Andrew Otte Mofa, CPDM Senator from Meme Division, Southwest Region, has refuted reports that the party abandoned the funeral of late YCPDM National President, Stephen Mbonda Motia.

Mbonda passed on last August 6 and was buried on October 11 in his native Bai Sombe.

Mofa made the remark in a briefing with reporters on October 30 in Kumba, while reacting to press reports that suggested that the ruling CPDM party ill-treated its fallen National Youth leader.

According to Senator Mofa, he remains at variance with those who claim that the party abandoned Mbonda in Mbonge Marumba. To him, the delegation of top CPDM bigwigs who were in Mbonge to pay their last respects to Mbonda remains one of the highest ever in the history of the Republic.

"How many people has the CPDM buried in the entire Republic,” he questioned. Who else should have buried Otte when we had the Secretary General of the CPDM Central Committee and the likes of the President of the WCPDM in Mbonge, alongside other State ministers," Otte questioned.

The Senator asserted that the strength of every funeral ceremony lies in the way family members take their responsibility. He said the party was not expected to step in and take over the arrangement of the occasion when the deceased’s family was there.

Otte, former Mayor of Mbonge Council, stated that the party came in at the right time and did what was expected. The rest of the ceremony, Otte went on, had to be continued by the family and not the CPDM party.

Reflecting on why it took so long for the deceased to be laid to rest, the Senator said everybody, including the party had to wait on the family to publish the funeral programme.

The Senior Customs Official said, even if the family had decided to bury their son a day after he died, all the delegations that answered present in Mbonge, including that of the CPDM, would have reacted the same way they did on October 11.