Mills’ grave not opened …Akufo-Addo replies Atta-Mills’ brother

President Nana Akufo-Addo has said the decision of his Government to refurbish the Asomdwe Park, final resting place of former President John Atta-Mills, was neither to spite the National Democratic Congress (NDC) nor to exploit supposed internal divisions within the largest opposite party.

The President said rather, the well-intended and sole aim was to elevate the burial grounds to a dignified status befitting the final resting place of a President of the Republic of Ghana who died in office.

Nana Akufo-Addo stated further that accusations that his Government had intentionally desecrated the tomb of the late President Atta-Mills in the process of rehabilitating the Asomdwee Park were unfortunate, false and malicious.

The President made the comments on Sunday, July 24, when he commissioned the refurbished Asomdwe Park, in commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the death of the late Professor Atta-Mills.

Akufo-Addo’s comments were in response to accusations from Samuel Atta-Mills, a brother of the late President, that Government acting through the Coastal Development Authority (CODA) and an aide to former President, Samuel Koku Anyidoho had tempered with the tomb without recourse to the family.

Samuel Atta-Mills, MP for the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem Constituency in the Central Region, last Tuesday told journalists in Accra that neither he nor family members of the late President were part of the refurbishing of his resting place and planned commissioning of same.

Samuel Atta-Mills questioned further whether anyone can be sure if indeed the body of the late President was still intact in the grave or whether his body and bones had been taken out.

President Akufo-Addo, on Sunday said “Nothing could be further from the truth, and it is good to note that these false, malicious statements have been firmly dispelled and debunked by the Coastal Development Authority, through the CEO, Mr. Jerry Ahmed Shaib, in a public statement under his hand.”

President Akufo-Addo, in reference to the late President, stated that “the man from Ekumfi Otuam will not be forgotten” and  reiterated his sincere condolences to the former First Lady and spouse of the late President, Ernestina Naadu Mills, to the entire family, to the NDC, and to the people of Ghana “for their great loss”.

President Akufo-Addo noted that ordinarily, the commissioning of an infrastructural project by Government should have naturally been a joyous occasion and elicit the display of pomp and pageantry in recognition of the feat achieved.

“But today’s event is not one of those normal occasions. Exactly ten years ago, a truly tragic incident occurred, one we had never witnessed, and hope will never reoccur in our history, certainly not in our lifetime – the death of a sitting President in office, the death of the 3rd President of the 4th Republic, Prof. John Evans Atta-Mills”, he added.

According to President Akufo-Addo, he and the late President were contemporaries at the University of Ghana, they were members of the same hall-Legon Hall and they both played in the same University football team.

“As fate would have it, we ended up belonging to and leading different political organisations. We contested for the Presidency in 2008, and even though some will say it does not count, I won the first round and he won the second round – the round that really mattered. I was looking forward to a third round in 2012, when the Almighty called him home on 24th July 2012,” he added.

The President noted that sometime after becoming President, he became aware of the sad state of Asomdwe Park and in 2020, he received a request from the late President’s energetic Communications Director, Koku Anyidoho, who runs the Institute named after the late President, for the assistance of Government to rehabilitate the facility.

“I agreed and subsequently I instructed the Coastal Development Authority to undertake a thorough rehabilitation of the Park, with the close co-operation of the Institute,” he said.

President Akufo-Addo continued, “It was not right that the Park had been allowed to deteriorate considerably over the years since his burial in 2012, and I am happy that it was under the Presidency of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, allegedly his ‘fiercest critic’, that the Asomdwe Park has been elevated to a status befitting the final resting place of a President of the Republic of Ghana.”