The body of the late member for Kerema, Richard Mendani arrived at the National Parliament House yesterday at 10am, accompanied by his grieving widow and family, for the Lie-in-State ceremony.
The casket was laid in the grand hall for members of parliament and dignitaries to pay their respects.
Among them was Prime Minister James Marape and Leader of Opposition Belden Namah.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, it was a closed casket ceremony with no viewing of the body.
The casket was in parliament for an hour before it was taken back to the funeral home where it will spend the night before being flown to Kerema early tomorrow morning.
Once in Kerema, Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Koni iguan, who wilol accompany late Mr Mendani, will hand him over to Gulf Governor, Chris Haiveta.
A funeral service will be held in Kerema before the body is taken to the Late Mr Mendani’s home village of Kanabea, for burial.
The late Richard Mendani was born on the 16th of August 1967 in Kanabea Village, gulf Province.
He completed his primary school education in Kanabea Community School in 1980, secondary education at Kerema High School in 1984 and Sogeri national High School in 1986.
He went on to graduate with a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Papua New Guinea in 1990.
Before entering the political arena, the late Mendani worked with the Bank of Papua New Guinea, the Electoral Commission, the Investment Promotion Authority, PNG Forest Authority and the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat in Fiji.
He was first elected to the 9th national Parliament for Kerema Open Electorate in 2012 and re-elected to the 10th National Parliament in the 2017 general Elections.
During his term, he served as member of the Constitutional Laws and Acts and Subordinate Legislation Committee, Private Business Committee and Public Accounts committee, and was chairman of the Economic Affairs Committee.
He also served as shadow minister for Petroleum and Energy, Mining and Geo-Assets and State-Owned Enterprises.