The cause of the death of former President John Evans Atta Mills refuses to fade off as the youth of Ekumfi, his hometown, are demanding an investigation into the strange circumstance under which the former Ghanaian leader died.

President Mills died on July 24, 2012 – five months to the general elections in which he was seeking re-election.

But the circumstance surrounding his death has been a major controversial issue in the country, in view of the varying accounts given as the possible cause of his demise.

At a press conference organised by the Coalition of Ekumfi Youth for Development (CEYD) at Essarkyir yesterday, president of the group, Mustapha Anderson, said: “The youth and the people of Ekumfi want the perpetrators of Prof Mills’ death identified, arrested and punished by the laws of the land.”

Their demands have been provoked by some comments attributed to the National Organiser of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), Yaw Boateng Gyan, who is battling for survival in the impending elections of the party.

He was quoted to have said during an interview on Kumasi-based Hello FM that “I hear my opponent has been going round with a certain tape about my alleged involvement in the World Cup in Brazil. I am not worried, but people should know that there are so many tapes that we can also play. Let’s not forget how someone said he would make sure the late President Mills did not run the second term; in his case not only did President Mills not run for the second term, but he (President Mills) can’t be found today amongst the living and these are the people we are dealing with.”

For the CEYD, “This statement from Yaw Boateng Gyan confirms that Prof Mills did not die of massive stroke as Ghanaians have been made to believe, but was intentionally killed at the Castle before being put into a pick-up truck and taken to the 37 Military Hospital accompanied by two soldiers.”

They therefore asked rhetorically, “What are those ‘so many tapes’ Yaw Boateng Gyan talks about? And …those tapes which border on how Prof Mills was killed, who are the people Mr Boateng was warning to expose? Why has the government, BNI, the police administration or the National Security not picked or invited Mr Boateng Gyan to name the killers of Prof Mills and whether the life of the late president was not important to the government as president then?”

Even though the aggrieved youth admitted the fact that Prof Mills was from a family and the family should be making these demands, leadership of the group articulated, “We think that as President of Ghana, he was the star of Ekumfi whom the youth drew a lot of hope and inspiration from. In fact, the youth of Ekumfi were dealt a hefty blow by Prof Mills’ sudden demise and it is in this vein that we will not sit down unconcerned for some ‘greedy bastards’ to take the life of Prof Mills for their own selfish political interests.”

“We the youth of Ekumfi are using this medium to call on the John Mahama-led NDC government to order the BNI, the Police Administration and other security agencies to arrest Yaw Boateng Gyan and ask him to make available those tapes and name the killers of Prof Mills,” they demanded.

“If that is not done,” president of the CEYD stated without mincing words, “then that will confirm our long-held belief that indeed some big shots in government really killed Prof Mills. We are giving a two-week ultimatum to the government and the security agencies to take action on this else they will hear from us with respect to our next line of action.”