MP Isifu passes on

By GYNNIE KERO
WEWAK MP Kevin Isifu has passed away – less than two months after being re-elected into Parliament for a second term.
And Prime Minister James Marape, on his way to London yesterday to attend the funeral for Queen Elizabeth II, confirmed that there would be a state funeral accorded to the late Isifu.
“My condolence to his family, the people of Wewak, and the United Resources Party,” he said.
Marape, who will be away overseas until the end of the month, said acting Prime Minister John Rosso would ensure that a state funeral was accorded to Isifu.
It could not be confirmed yesterday with the Electoral Commission when and how the Wewak Open seat would be filled.
A close associate of Isifu confirmed that he passed away at the Port Moresby General Hospital at 8.30am after battling cancer.
Isifu was first elected into Parliament in 2017 as a member of the Peoples’ Progress Party.
He was appointed the Inter-Government Relations Minister by Prime Minister Peter O’Neill, a position he held from August 2017 to May 2019.
This year, he retained the seat under the United Resource Party (URP) banner, after beating 34 candidates.
URP leader and Hagen MP William Duma described Isifu as an intelligent person, a man of few words with a contagious smile.
The URP, a major coalition partner in the Government, now has 14 MPs.
Duma recalled how he first met Isifu at the Jackson International Airport terminal in Port Moresby in 2016.
“I was already late for my flight to Mt Hagen, was rushing when a smart neat young man, smiling, extended his hands for me to shake and introduced himself as Kevin Isifu,” Duma said.
“He knew me but I didn’t know him at that time. Total stranger.
“He (Isifu) confidently told me, he will contest and win the Wewak Open Seat in the 2017 General Election. And he did win under a different party.
“In 2019, he joined us (URP).
“I lost my brother. He’s a good leader who associates himself with anyone.”
Isifu completed his primary education at the Angoram Primary School in 1983 and then onto St. Xavier’s High School on Kairuru Island, where he completed his secondary education in 1987.
He obtained a diploma in Business Studies and a Degree in Management from the Divine Word University in Madang.
The late MP is survived by his wife and four children – two boys and two girls.
His body was brought to a funeral home late yesterday afternoon, awaiting further arrangements to be announced by the family this week.
Isifu is the first MP to die in the 11th Parliament.