Ekumfi Abusuapanyin Kwabena Biney has shot down claims that persons who paid a courtesy call on President Akudo-Addo to commend him over the renovation of the Asomdwee Park, where the late Mills was buried, were not related to the former president.
Speaking on Frontline on Rainbow Radio 87.5 FM, he explained that the main reason they had gone to the presidency was to first extend gratitude to the president for the renovation of the Asomdwee Park, which was in a deplorable state, and to also remind the government of an agreement between the government and family for the construction of a tourist site in honour of Atta Mills in Ekumfi.
He told host Kwabena Agyapong that when the late Mills died, the original idea was for a tourist site to be constructed at Ekumfi in honour of him, to which the family agreed and allocated land for the project.
However, that failed to materialise, and what became so disheartening for them was how the burial grounds of the late president became deplorable and abandoned.
He claimed that it took an appeal by Atta Mills’ ”adopted son” to persuade President Akufo-Addo to renovate the site, which had been abandoned by the previous administration.
The queenmother, who is also a family member of the late Mills, requested a copy of the autopsy report on the late Mills’ death.
”We are Atta Mills’ relatives. There is no doubt that we are related to the late Mills’ mother and are family members. We are Ekumfi Ntem and Ekumfi Asaman of the Oduma Clan.
We went to the presidency to thank the president for renovating Asomdwee Park and to remind the government of the agreement for the construction of a tourist site in Ekumfi in honour of the late Mills, which we agreed to. The agreement called for the late Mills to be buried at Asomdwee Park and a tourist attraction to be built in Ekumfi. That, however, did not occur after his burial. The park was also abandoned in disrepair. It turned into a haven for drug addicts.”
It took Atta Mills’ adopted son, Koku Anyidoho, to appeal to President Akufo-Addo to renovate the place. So we went to extend our gratitude to the president and to remind him of the agreement that was reached before he assumed office. We already have the land and are awaiting construction.
We are not politicians, and we did not go there for politics. We went there to seek out what we needed to honour the late Mills,” he added.
By: Rashid Obodai Provencal/Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana