Aug 07, 2012 at 1:04pm

A pressure group, the Alliance for Accountable Governance (AFAG), has called for the suspension of President John Evans Atta Mills’ burial till the cause of his death is established.

This is in support of similar demands made by majority of Ghanaians wanting to know circumstances surrounding the late Ghanaian President’s death at the 37 Military Hospital in Accra.

“AFAG and, going by the preponderance of public sentiment, the vast majority of Ghanaians are of the view that the cause of the death of our late President is a serious public interest issue and the public must be told before his burial at the weekend,” AFAG said in a statement.

The group’s President, Dr. Nana Ayew Afriyie disagreed with the Chairman of the Funeral Planning Committee, Mr Totobi Kwakye’s assertion that the cause of death of the late President was a private matter and must be exclusive to his family.

“We respectfully disagree with him,” the group said.

Afriyie said: “Government has been very reluctant to give the public any information on the cause of death of the late President. It has stated that a coroner’s inquest was not necessary in the case of the death of President Mills because he died at the 37 Military Hospital and in the
competent hands of doctors.”

“This view goes contrary to the state of the country’s law, which makes it mandatory for a coroner to look into the death of a person who dies not in a hospital or within 24 hours of being brought to a hospital. The late President’s death falls within this category.”

“We have taken notice of the apparent attempts by the NDC government to shroud in secrecy the chain of events that led to the death of President Mills. It appears to be the same way issues surrounding the state of health of President Mills were treated and mishandled,” he pointed out.

He insisted: “We demand that Government ought not to continue to treating Ghanaian public with disdain and disregard and allow the law to work and deal with this matter with the transparency required to quench all the speculations that their penchant with secrecy has allowed to fester.

“AFAG at a later date will delve and demand answers to the chain of events, acts of commission or omission that led to the death of President Mills. But for now, Ghanaians simply deserve to know the exact cause of the death of President Mills because it simply cannot be a private issue, limited to the confines of relatives of President Mills or members of government.”

President Mills is expected to be buried on August 10.




By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah/Citifmonline.com/Ghana