Ignoring The Coroner�s Inquest

We do not see the demand for a coroner�s inquest on the remains of the late President Mills being obliged by the authorities, the infringement of medical convention therein notwithstanding. Their body language speaks it all. They are not in a mood to countenance such a demand, especially when perhaps such a legal and medical procedure does not favour some persons. The boost from some family members claiming they know what killed their kinsman is also an impetus for such state actors. We would have preferred a situation where the remains of the deceased would be interred, leaving no trace of doubts about the exact cause of death and ending various speculations. Selective application of laws and standards does not help in the development and growth of systems and geopolitical entities; indeed, it retards our progress towards building strong institutions. The experts in such matters have spoken profoundly and adequately about what circumstances trigger a coroner�s inquest. Dr. Frank Serebour, in particular, is stating that the former president�s death is a clear case of one. Setting this aside and ignoring the coroner element therefore is arbitrary, a bad precedent which weakens our legal system wantonly. We might have to consider growing beyond such selective applications of the law, a practice which is responsible for the backward state of our affairs as a nation. Those who have opposed the demand, regardless of how it contravenes the regulations underpinning the coroner�s inquest, would be responsible for a subsequent wrangling and even speculations that the former president did not die of natural causes. It is the need to obviate such a situation and also to adhere to laid-down procedure that informed the request for a coroner�s inquest. We have taken note of the warped positions of the Information Minister, Fritz Baffour, and Chairman of the Funeral Management Committee Totobi-Quakyi, arguments which, expectedly, are without sound basis and largely self-serving. We are surprised that the latter, having managed national security before, would show such ignorance about the circumstances under which coroner�s inquests become necessary. Although not a doctor, we think that he would have, at least, a little knowledge about this area of medicine and legal procedures. The flawed management of government information alongside the obsession to infuse this with copious propaganda is what is responsible for the mutating challenges surrounding the death of the late President Mills. The late President Mills led Ghana and was therefore paid and kept with public funds. Need we therefore demand the cause of his death?