Stephen Asamoah Boateng
THE MINISTER for Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Stephen Asamoah Boateng, popularly known as Asabee, has called for a probe into the circumstances surrounding the untimely demise of former President John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills.
Since the passing of the late president, who died in office in 2012, there have been several calls and appeals, mainly by the family, asking for the release of an autopsy report of his death.These calls, it appears, have fallen on deaf ears.
The Chieftaincy Minister yesterday added his voice to amplify these calls, explaining that the results of the probe would “put an end to all controversies” surrounding the former president’s death.
During a press conference at the ministry’s conference hall in Accra yesterday, the minister intimated, “As the Minister for Chieftaincy, holding firm our traditions, customs, religion and faith, I will support that we find out the controversies surrounding the death of the former President John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills, for the records to be set straight.”
According to him, the Ghanaian public deserves to know the outcome of any autopsy report surrounding the death of the late Atta Mills; as such, every detail surrounding it should be brought to light, to bring clarity.
“We have to know where he died, the doctor who attended to him, where he was taken to etc. I am told the body was taken to the funeral home. Who authorised that the body should be moved to that end? We heard it was in the custody of 37 Hospital, why did he end up in a private hospital?
“Is there something in the autopsy report they don’t want us to know? Why are they hiding it? If the public wants it, why not make it available? It should be available for public record,” he quizzed.
He lamented that the soul of the late president is not sleeping peacefully due to the inability of those involved to release the details surrounding his death to the public.
Touching on some comments purportedly made by President Akufo-Addo during a meeting between him and the family of the former president at the Jubilee House in Accra, that his government had neglected Ekumfi due to the residents’ decision to vote Francis Ato Cudjoe out of Parliament in the 2020 elections, the minister said the President was misinterpreted, insisting that the Ekumfi Constituency had never been neglected by the government.
“They have twisted what the President said for their political agenda. The President has done very well for the people of Ekumfi,” the minister said.
The President, he added, only meant that because his appointee was voted out of power, contact was lost in a way, and now that they have come to him, they would find a way around it.
“So I think the twist was from here. This is because his appointee at the time was the one he was constantly in communication with concerning the needs of the people, but because he was no more a Member of Parliament, things changed,” he stated.
BY Nii Adjei Mensahfio