The presidential candidate of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, is not in the good books of chiefs and people of Ekumfi, in the Central Region.
They are unhappy with the former president for failing to fulfill promises he made to the family, upon which they agreed for the late President, John Evans Atta Mills, to be buried in Accra.
The chiefs and elders made this known when they paid a courtesy call on President Akufo-Addo at Jubilee House last week.
“Before the family agreement to allow the mortal remains of the late former president to be buried in Accra, the Mahama administration made several promises to the family of the late Atta Mills and the people of Ekumfi.
“However, they failed to fulfill any of these promises. Not a single one of the promises they made was fulfilled. The Atta-Mills family is displeased with these failed promises made by the John Mahama administration,” Kobina Biney, Ebusuapanyin of the Odomaa Clan of Ekumfi, said to President Akufo-Addo, on behalf of the delegation.
APPRECIATION
The delegation visited Jubilee House to register their appreciation to President Akufo-Addo and his government for the honour done the late former President John Evans Atta-Mills, by renovating his final resting place at the “Asomdwe Park” in Accra.
According to the family, they were pleased with the facelift given to the resting place of the former president, John Evans Atta Mills, their son.
“We went to see “Asomdwe Park,” the final resting place of the late Professor Evans Atta Mills, we laid our wreath and performed all the necessary rites. We are indeed pleased with what you have done to honour our son and beloved late former President.
“We wish to say a big thank you,” Ebusuapanyin Kobina Biney added.
However, like Oliver Twist, the delegation asked for more. They requested the government of Akufo-Addo to consider fulfilling at least one of the promises the Mahama administration made to them.
“If just one is done for us, we will use it to remember you, after you have left office as President of the Republic,” the Ebusuapanyin pleaded.
He took advantage of the opportunityto establish that the late former President John Evans Atta Mills is not from Cape Coast, as “some of our family members have painted the picture, that he hailed from Cape Coast, but that cannot be true.”
AUTOPSY REPORT
The family of the late former President, during the visit, also appealed to President Akufo-Addo to use his high office to assist them in retrieving the autopsy report that was carried out, following the death of their beloved son on 24 July, 2012.
Nana Enyimfua III, Kyedomhem of EkumfiAsaman, who was part of the delegation, speaking on behalf of the family said 12 years after the death of the former President, it is unacceptable that the family has not been given an autopsy report.
“Since I was enstooled as the Queenmother, I have not seen any autopsy report in the hands of the family. It is a very difficult situation that the family and I have. We are unable to explain to anyone the actual cause of death of the former President because we do not have the official autopsy report.
“It is only right that we know exactly what the doctor found as the cause of his death. To this end, I wish to plead with your government for and on behalf of my entire family, to assist us in securing the autopsy report,” Nana Enyimfua III said.
“If the autopsy report is obtained, it will go a long way to put the family’s continued confusion on the cause of death of the late Atta Mills to rest and the future generations of our family will have a source document to use in explaining to their children about the real cause of death of the former President” the Queenmother added.
CLAIMS OF KEEA MP
Mr Koku Anyidoho, Chief Executive Officer of the Atta Mills Institute, who was part of the delegation, observed that but for the inquiry of the Queenmother, he would have loved to stay completely away from the issue of the autopsy report on the death of his former boss.
Mr Anyidoho further indicated that he is personally not aware of any autopsy report on the cause of death of the former President.
However, he said he is aware that the brother of the late former President and the current National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament for the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem (KEEA) constituency in the Central Region, Mr Samuel Atta-Mills, is on record to have said that he has an autopsy report and that he knows the cause of the death of his brother.
CHALLENGE ACCEPTED
To the request of the family for President Akufo-Addo to do something significant in the Ekumfi traditional area in fulfillment of the failed promises made to them by the John Mahama government which will also serve as a monument in remembrance of him after he leaves office on January 7, 2025 President Akufo-Addo said he accepts the challenge and he will do all within his power to meet the expectations of the chiefs and elders of Ekumfi, in his last year in office.
ASOMDWE PARK
Responding to the family’s thank you gesture on the redevelopment of the final resting place of the late professor Evans Atta Mills, President Akufo-Addo said the late former President was his good friend back in school at the University of Ghana.
He added that even though they had different ideological difference, it was only right that the man who was his contemporary is given a befitting resting place, especially when he lost his life right on the line of duty, serving his country at the highest office of the land.
President Akufo-Addo in response to the request of the family sought to get clarity on whether or not an autopsy was carried out on the body of the late former President after he died on 24 July 2012.
He noted that it comes to him as a surprise that a basic document such as an autopsy report, after the death of such an important personality like the former President, should be a subject of controversy.
ASSURANCE TO ACT
President Akufo-Addo, after the submission of Koku Anyidoho, told the delegation that he will give the request of the Atta Mills Family all the necessary attention it deserves, because he considers it to be a legitimate demand.
He added that since Professor Atta Mills died as a sitting President, his autopsy report should be a matter of public record and not a secret.
