A leading member of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Stephen Atubiga says blame must be apportioned to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo over the death of ex-president Jerry John Rawlings.

According to him, the late statesman died prematurely over the hesitation by the state and family to seek advanced medical care for him.

He argued that late J.J Rawlings could have survived the illness if he was even taken to one of the VVIP hospitals that were earmarked for COVID-19 other than Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, where he died.

He disclosed that the President could have granted Rawlings protocol to be flown abroad for medical treatment instead of being managed locally.

Mr. Atubiga lamented that the failure of the aforementioned circumstances caused the death of their founder.

“But my question is…when you, President Nana Addo fell sick, you went abroad to get treated," Atubiga stated.

"But we also have nice and well-resourced hospitals built by former President Mahama in our country, much better than that Korle-Bu they took Rawlings to. Why didn’t they fly him abroad? He is not supposed to die," he added.

"From Sunday, you just kept him there. You could have flown him. If President Nana Addo loved Rawlings he could have taken him abroad. Blame him for his death. “That man died prematurely, and I want all Ghanaians to request a serious report on the post-mortem on the cause of his death,” he stated emphatically on KOFI TV.

Mr. Atubiga disclosed that the immediate family was even hesitant to get the late specialized treatment.

He alleged that the condition of the late ex-president had gone worse even before he was rushed to Korle-Bu. He disclosed that the first point of treatment was at Dr. Nyaho Tamakloe’s hospital until a final call by the wife got him moved to Korle-Bu for urgent attention.

“The man fell ill on Sunday, and he personally requested to be sent to Nyaho Clinic. So Dr. Nyaho Tamakloe came to the house to check on him. They claim they didn’t come with logistics to treat him so they took him to their facility. But the wife came there and asked that they take him to Korle-Bu.

"Even doctors from the flagstaff house came to check on him but they didn’t allow it,” he stressed that the circumstances that led to the death of Mr. Rawlings were not pardonable.

Mr. Atubiga has threatened to exhume the corpse of the late statesman if the Presidency sideline the NDC in the funeral arrangements.

He argued that the body of the late ex-president is theirs and as such no one should dare take it from them.