Some people, for diverse reasons, invested time and energy in announcing the death of President John Evans Atta-Mills (as if the death would prolong their lifespan) several times before that fateful, Tuesday, July 24, 2012. Many weird stories flew cluelessly, about how the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Ghana was moved from the Castle to the 37 Military Hospital.
One of the weirdest of the weirdest, had it that, Koku Anyidoho drove the President in the boot of his official Ford vehicle, to the 37 Military Hospital. Hmm!
As part of attempts to create the extremely fake impression that I had absolute control at the Castle, this falsehood about me carrying the President to the 37 Military Hospital, was bandied around.
Over the years, I have tried in many ways to tell the true story. This year, I decided to tell the true story in print because of a question a highly respected personality in Ghana asked me during a casual conversation.
The conversation went thus: “So how is the Atta-Mills Institute doing?” “By the kind grace of God, we are marching on gradually”. “… So, is it true you carried the President in the boot of your vehicle to 37? And is it true that he was sent to the maternity ward?” “It is not true I drove the President to 37 and it is not true he was sent to the maternity ward”. “Are you sure about what you are saying? Because it was/is all over the place that you drove him and you took him to the maternity ward. Honestly, if I had not met you today to have this conversation with you, that’s what I have believed all these years …”. Phew!
It was this conversation that occasioned this piece in memory of the late President John Evans Atta-Mills.
Facts.
The President was NOT driven to the 37 Military Hospital by Koku Anyidoho.
The President was driven in an assigned ambulance with known medics.
The President was not sent to the Maternity Ward.
The President was driven straight to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
As regards the ICU, and as fate would have it, President Atta-Mills, as part of his “Surprise Visits” to selected State Institutions, visited the 37 Military Hospital, and the ICU in particular was one of the facilities that he entered, to walk through upgrading that had taken place. He was also shown around (certainly not inside) the rebuilt mortuary. So, he died at the ICU and was sent to the morgue – life has a way of throwing at us, the fleeting nature of our existence.
Do I know what killed President Atta-Mills? NO! No autopsy report has been made public so the nation still does not know what killed our beloved President.
Fact is, he is gone and shall never come back in flesh. All I can do, is to help keep his memory alive – and I shall do so no matter the evil and wicked nonsensical noises that the pretenders make in their obtuse world.
A year ago, thanks to the goodness of His Excellency President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, a hitherto embarrassing specter called Asomdwe Park, was rebuilt and commissioned.
This year, the Government has also taken over the Atta-Mills Memorial Library in Cape Coast, and the Atta-Mills Institute (AMI) is grateful to God and Country for this move.
Now that Government has taken over the library, it will be our duty to look into how funds raised in the name of the library was not accounted for by the Chairman of the Funeral Planning Committee.
I was a member of the Funeral Planning Committee, and I shall clear my family name from any rot that has taken place in the name of the Library.
Did I ever want to own Asomdwe Park? Extremely ridiculous!
How can one person own such a state monument?
Atta-Mills Institute (AMI) is humbled that we were able to point Government in the direction of the need to give the former President a befitting resting place.
The management of the Asomdwe Park is in the capable hands of the State. If the help of AMI is needed in any way, we shall not hesitate to help.
AMI was NOT setup to manage state monuments; we are setup as a Public Policy and Advocacy Think-Tank – we advocated for Asomdwe Park and we thank God we did.
At least, the world knows that Koku Anydoho did not exhume any dead body; all we did, was help exhume the heavy disgrace that was sitting on the face of the nation when Asomdwe Park was an eyesore.
The monument of President Atta-Mills that sits in my heart (which no one can take away from me), is more illuminating than any physical one.
President John Evans Atta-Mills, sir, continue to rest well knowing that the covenant between us shall always stand and I am holding on firmly to what you gave me to the glory of God and country.
Sir, I shall do whatever I can do humanly possible to keep your legacy alive and I know the genuineness of my heart will see me through the challenges.
With Christ in the vessel, I shall certainly smile at all the storms.
President John Evans Atta-Mills, please pray for me sir, for I need it!
Samuel Koku Anyidoho
Founder & CEO, Atta-Mills Institute
Sitsoanyidoho1@yahoo.com
Accredited Member, Institute Of Public Relations, Ghana.
