A New Patriotic Party Member of Parliament has accused the ruling National Democratic Congress of assassinating late President John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills contrary to official records that he died a natural death and challenged personnel of the National Security outfit to as a matter of urgency hunt down his killers.
According to the MP for Nabdam, Boniface Gambilla, the NDC party and not “President Mahama killed Atta Mills. NDC killed Atta Mills, they assassinated him,” he fumed and added that the party can not absolve itself of any complicity in the late President’s sudden death on Tuesday the 24th of July, 2012.
These comments will stoke the debate surrounding Mills’ death which happened some few months to the end of his term as President. Even though the family of the late President has time and over insisted that, the autopsy report in their custody reveals that he died of natural causes; rumors of the involvement of an unseen hand in Professor Mills’ death have persisted.
A statement from then President Mill’s office, signed by the chief of staff, confirmed his death several hours later, after growing speculation and a near communications blackout.
“It is with a heavy heart that we announce the sudden and untimely death of the president of the republic of Ghana,” the statement said.
The announcement prompted an outpouring of grief as people across the political divide united in paying their respects. “This is our president who has died in office, we join all Ghanaians in mourning, we send our deepest condolences to his wife and family,” said Jake Obetsebi Lamptey, the chairman of the opposition New Patriotic Party.” As a mark of respect, the party is suspending all its activities.”
Members of the country’s Legislature were subsequently summoned to Parliament House to witness the swearing in of then Vice President John Dramani Mahama.
The new President Mahama, who made an emotional speech describing Mills as a “father, friend, mentor and … senior comrade”, said that the country was “deeply saddened and distraught” and declared one week of mourning.
He also gave reassurances that the death of Mills – whose illness had always been a subject of intense public debate, even though it was never officially confirmed – would not spark a constitutional crisis as no sitting Head of State had ever died in office.
Mr. Gambilla however is of the view that the country’s security equivalent to the United States FBI must get to the bottom of the matter and help unravel the mystery surrounding the death of the President John Mahama’s predecessor.
“If the national security is a real national security they should go and start arresting these people now,” he told Live News’ Ekow Annan in an exclusive interview.
The MP also fingered the ruling party and its operatives and called on the National Security to quickly arrest those involved in the death of President Mills.
“The day Atta Mills was jumping at the airport, he was deceived by those people around him to jump. Those people have to be arrested. They knew if he jumped pretending to be healthy, he would die early so they deceived the
President, his protocol, his personal aide’s, Ministers and party official including the PNC flag bearer who was there at the time should be arrested.”
Mr Gambilla also added that according “to their own party organizer, Yaw Boateng Gyan some people in the party had said that President Mills would not survive to contest the 2012 election” which in his view was an evident of party complicity in the late Mills death.
