The 12th year anniversary wreath-laying ceremony and memorial service for the late Prof. John Evans Atta Mills, a former president of Ghana, was marred by some commotion and fracas.

Varying reports indicate that the event held at the Asomdwee Park was disrupted when a former Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress reportedly exceeded his allotted time, causing a delay for the second event organised by the NDC at the same venue.

Furthermore, Koku Anyidoho was alleged to have bused individuals impersonating themselves as family members of the late Prof. John Evans Atta Mills.

Following the incident, relatives of the late president, including Samuel Atta Mills, who is the Member of Parliament for Komenda Edina Eguafo Abrem constituency; and his sister, have given their own accounts of what happened.

The man in the centre of the fray, Koku Anyidoho, has also given his account of what transpired.

GhanaWeb takes a look at all the different accounts on what actually happened at Asomdwee Park on July 24;

Sister of Prof Atta Mills, Mercy Araba Ahema Quarshie’s account;

Mercy Quarshie strongly criticized Koku Anyidoho’s alleged actions of tampering with the grave of Prof. Atta Mills, calling it unacceptable and disrespectful to the family’s tradition and customs.

Expressing strong disapproval of the melee that happened, Mercy Quarshie disclosed that the family will take action against Koku Anyidoho for tampering with the grave of their relative without their approval.

“Koku has stepped on the wrong foot by tampering with our brother’s grave without our knowledge, that is totally unacceptable. And now, we are going to deal with him because it’s a taboo in our family to do that. Whatever that you want to do, you have to consult the family and we have to give you our approval. Because you have the money, you go and do everything you want. Well, my brother preached asomdwee but some of us we sometimes reserve that asomdwee,” she disclosed.

Brother of Prof Atta Mills, Samuel Atta Mills’ account;

The Member of Parliament for Komenda Edina Eguafo Abrem constituency explained that the incident resulted from a disagreement over scheduling.

He said that after negotiations, it was agreed that Koku Anyidoho’s team would start their event from 6 am to 7 am followed by the NDC’s event from 7 am to 9 am.

However, tensions arose due to delays by Koku Anyidoho’s team, leading to the commotion.

He further alleged that the supposed family members were paid to be present at the event.

“There is no maternal side. Does he (Koku) know my family? He only worked for my brother for 6 years and he seems to know my family better than I? My goodness, he doesn’t know my family. What he is doing is he is being used by some invisible hands. He gave those people 200 cedis each to come out there. Some of them didn’t know why they came out there.

“… I asked them. He gave them money for them to come. Look, I went to some of the people and asked them why they were doing what they were doing because that was a disgrace. They were given money to come out there,” he stated.

Koku Anyidoho’s account;

Reacting to the allegations levelled against him, Koku Anyidoho clarified in an interview on Okay FM on July 25 that he did not organise any event, contrary to what had been speculated by some individuals and in the media.

Explaining further, he indicated that the family of Prof. Mills from his maternal side sought and obtained permission from National Security to organise their event.

According to him, he was at his book launch as at the time the purported incident was happening.

“For the first time in 12 years the Odumna family wrote to the government, and government gave them the go ahead, that is how come they came in their huge numbers from Half Assini, Apam, Winneba, Tarkwa, Bibiano, from all over. Over 500-600 individuals at the Asomdwee Park yesterday, how did I recruit 500 to 600 people to just come to Asomdwee Park?” he questioned.

TWI NEWS

Accounts of the alleged family members from the maternal side;

The supposed family of the late President Prof. John Evans Atta Mills expressed anger at the National Democratic Congress over what they perceived as unfair treatment during the 12th-year anniversary wreath-laying ceremony at the Asomdwee Park.

Expressing their dissatisfaction, some family members alleged they were disrespected by some party elements.

They threatened to vote against the NDC and instead cast their ballots for Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and the NPP in the pending polls.

In a video posted by UTV on X, one family member said “I am an avid NDC supporter and everybody in Central Market knows I campaign for Mahama. But what they did today, they didn’t regard us or respect us. As family members, we were told to report at the ceremony at 7am to 12pm. When we arrived, they told us to leave, even when we tried to partake in the prayers, they said we shouldn’t do so. I know Mahama is innocent of today’s happening but he has been clearly affected so no member of our family will vote for the party."

MAG/AE