PRESSURE GROUP

The Alliance for Accountable Governance is calling on the government to investigate circumstances leading to the death of the late Prof. John Evans Atta Mills. The pressure group has also added its call to the numerous Ghanaians who wanted to know what caused the sudden demise of President Mills a forthright ago. In a statement issued and copied to Kapital News, the pressure group stated that government has been reluctant in providing information to the public on what the late President died from adding that the cause of the sudden demise of President Mills should not be treated as a private or family matter since he was a public figure. The statement stated that the Chairman of the Funeral Planning Committee, Mr. Totobi Kwakye, 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. Mr. Totobi Kwakye went on to say that information about the cause of death of the late President was a private matter and must be exclusive to his family. A family member of the late President appears to support this position. But in an interview with Kapital News, the General Secretary of the Alliance for Accountable Governance, Mr. Arnold Boateng discloses that the pressure group however respectfully disagree with it. Mr. Boateng noted that 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 adding the late President’s death falls within this category. However, Mr. Boateng says the cause of the death of the late President is a serious public interest issue and the public must be told before his burial at the weekend.  However the General Secretary of the Alliance for Accountable Governance, Mr. Arnold Boateng has revealed that they would seek all means for the coroner’s inquest be made public and will even proceed to the law court after the funeral and burial ceremony of the late President Mills.Meanwhile the Minister of Information, Fritz Baffuor, has described calls for investigations into events before the death of Professor John Evans Atta Mills as an intrusion into the privacy of the late President. Many are demanding to know details of what happened hours before the death of the President at the 37 Military Hospital on July 24, but Mr. Baffuor feels the timing of the demand is inappropriate.  The Information Minister stated that Ghanaians should have a sense of discipline and a certain sense of purpose. Mr. Baffuor however says President Mills must be buried before taking consideration into his death and all other things surrounding the demise of President Mills.