President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has dispelled the accusation the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration he leads deliberately allowed the Asomdwee Park to deteriorate.
According to him, he only became aware of the sad state of the burial ground of the late President John Evans Atta Mills in 2020 when he received a request from Koku Anyidoho for government assistance to rehabilitate the place.
The Park, he said, should not have been allowed to deteriorate over the years since President Mills’ burial in 2012 and therefore instructed the Coastal Development Authority to undertake a thorough rehabilitation of the Park, with the close cooperation of the founder of the Atta Mills Institute.
Speaking at the commission of the Park on Sunday 24th July, 2022 President Akufo expressed delight it was under his presidency, the alleged fiercest critic of the former President that the Asomdwee Park has been elevated to a status befitting the final resting of a President of Ghana.
“I did so with that objective solely in mind, and not to exploit or take advantage of any so-called divisions in the political party to which he belonged.”
“Those alleged divisions are not of my making, and do not, in any way, inure to my benefit.”
The President also denied accusations of a supposed desecration of the tomb in the process of rehabilitating the Park.
Nothing, he said, could be further from the truth and expressed satisfaction this malicious untruth has been firmly dismissed and debunked by the Coastal Development Authority through its CEO, Mr. Jerry Ahmed Schaib, in a public statement under his hand.
President Akufo-Addo prayed the tragic death of a sitting President in office should never reoccur in Ghana’s history and certainly not in our lifetime.
He stated the commissioning of an infrastructural project by the Government should naturally be a joyous occasion and should elicit the display of pomp and pageantry in recognition of the feat achieved but stressed the event is not one of those normal occasions adding, “The death of a sitting President in office, the death of the 3rd President of the 4th Republic, Prof. John Evans Atta-Mills”
According to him, he and Atta-Mills were contemporaries at the University of Ghana, members of the same hall, Legon Hall, played in the same University football team but as fate would have it ended up belonging to and leading different political organizations.
“We contested 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.”
“News of his death brought up many emotions – grief, sadness, reflections on the past, reminiscences on a generation, the stark reality of mortality, the prospects of eternity, the presence of the Living God.”
He reiterated his condolences and that of his wife Rebecca and children to the wife of the former President, Naadu Mills, his son, his entire family, the NDC, and to the people of Ghana for this great loss.
“President John Evans Atta Mills, my good friend Fiifi, rest and abide in perfect peace in the bosom of the Almighty, until we all meet again on the last day of the Resurrection.”
“The man from Ekumfi Otuam will not be forgotten,” he added.