A thanksgiving and memorial mass service was last Sunday held for the late former Member of Parliament (MP)for Zebilla, John Akparibo Ndebugre, in the Upper East region.
With attendees mostly clad in white attire, the event brought together the family including the late MP’s four children and sympathisers.
The service took place at the St Charles Lwanga Catholic Church at Zebilla, the Bawku West District Capital.
The Assistant Parish Priest of the St Charles Lwanga Catholic Church, Reverend Father MosesAwafo, in the sermon said the death of the late MP was”a huge loss to the country and the world.”
He said the late lawyer was a “firm believer of God” who held his values high and therefore beseeched all to take after him.
Rev Fr Awafo urged all not to make excuses for which they could not serve God adding that “He is a good God, so let us keep seeking his face and he will not pass us by.”
The first son of the late MP and a lawyer, Vladimir Ndebugre,in an interview with the Ghanaian Times said the passing of their father had been a difficult one not only for the family but the country, adding that the world at large had lost a great man.
Mr Ndebugre said his father stood for “social justice all his life,” coupled with truthfulness, a legacy that would live on.
He used the opportunity to thank Ghanaians for the support and love shown since the demise of their father.
Meanwhile, the firstborn and only female child of the late MP, Reverend Patience Ndebugre, an accountant, last Saturday after the burial service similarly, expressed the family’s gratitude to all and sundry who had been there for the family since their father’s demise.
She commended and blessed all who had travelled from far and near, across and beyond the country to sympathise with them.
The late politician and lawyer was known to be vociferous: he shared strong views on pertinent national issues, spoke on many legal and political issues in the media, as was often relied upon as a resource person.
The late Ndebugre pursued a degree in chemical engineering at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, was subsequently called to the bar in 1988 after reading law, and served in other capacities until he fell out with the late former President, Jerry John Rawlings.
He served in the Provisional National Defence Council in the early 80s as a Northern Regional Secretary, Upper Regional Secretary, Secretary for Agriculture and in the office of the PNDC Secretariat.
He left behind a widow, Mrs Sophia AlasburiLamisi Ndebugre, and four children. They are Rev. Patience A. Ndebugre, Vladimir A. Ndebugre, Thomas AyumahNdebugre and Nelson N.Ndebugre
The private legal practitioner hailed from Timonde in the Bawku West District of the Upper East Region.