Dramas continue to befall the burial of the Sinoe County, District # 2 Representative Jaybloh Jay Nagbe as the two-day signing of his Book of Condolence was abruptly postponed.
The Director of Press at the House of Representative, Isaac Redd’s, pronouncement about the postponement comes barely a day after he had announced that process leading to the final interment of Rep Sloh would have begun with the signing of the Book of Condolence on Wednesday, August 12.
According to the itinerary, on Friday, August 14, the remains of Rep. Sloh should have been taken from the Samuel Stryker Funeral Home to lie in State in the Rotunda of the Capitol Building.
A night of wake keeping was planned initially to be held at the First Assembly Church of God followed by funeral rites on Saturday, August 15 and thereafter his interment at the Brewerville Cemetery.
Though the Director of Press at the House of Representative did not give any detail for the postponement in the funeral itinerary of the Sinoe County lawmaker who died at the John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital since June 30.
The delays in the Sinoe County District #2 lawmaker’s burial rites followed a constitutional crunch between two women whom many claimed are both legally married to the deceased, something the court could amount to the crime of Bigamy if he was alive.
As the protocol depicts, Rep. Sloh should have been the first to have been buried before Rep. Munah Pelham-Youngblood who died two weeks after, but a prohibition was filed at the court requesting a halt to all funeral arrangements regarding his remains.
What or whoever the ‘behind-the-scenes’ negotiations were, the petitioner withdrew from pursuing the court’s intervention and that is another story for another day but, the reason for this postponement of the lawmaker’s burial is yet to be legally established.
However, a report gathered is that petitioner Ruth Sloh, who is the recognized first wife and resides in the United States has reportedly requested that she is present in Liberia before the burial of her husband.
According to information, the petitioner explained that her previous flight had been cancelled and therefore she needs to rearrange for another flight which will take some time.
Earlier, petitioner Ruth Sloh who is claiming to be the official widow requested the court to restrain Kau Kidau Boyoe-Sloh, Rep. Sloh’s other wife, from proceeding with any funeral activities or having any discussion with the legislators over the remains of the fallen lawmaker, stating that she and her husband did not separate until his demise.
“My late husband and I got married on May 8, 1993, in Monrovia and migrated to the United States of America where I have stayed for the last two decades. The union is blessed with four children; the oldest is 35 years old and all of them are residing in the United States,” Ruth told the court.
It is Ruth who has been revealing their marital narratives in which at one point she said that the late Rep. Sloh returned to Liberia to serve his country but was in constant communication with his family until his demise.
But Kau, who is considered the second wife and also resides in the United States flew home immediately upon hearing of the death of her husband to begin the funeral arrangement but was greeted by a restrain order.
Following the Writ of Prohibition, it was reported that the House’s Judiciary Committee headed by Rep. Fornati Koffa has out rightly recognized Ruth as the legal wife of their deceased colleague, a decision that has made Kau to return to the United States, rumors revealed.