<<Print>>

Daily Guide has finally fished out the lead character in the interesting �Atta The mortuary Man� story narrated by ex-President Jerry John Rawlings at the just-ended National Delegates� Congress of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in Tamale, which has generated controversy in political circles. This paper yesterday visited the morgue of the 37 Military Hospital where, according to Jerry Rawlings, Atta works, and true to his words, the mortuary man who has gained national attention overnight for a joke he reportedly told the former President several years ago, was found there. The motive behind the narration of the story at such a programme has not yet been revealed. The mortuary man is 82years of age, goes by the name Atta Kwabena Kummah and hails from Kete Krachi in the Volta Region. He has been working as a mortuary attendant for the past 42 years. The now famous mortuary man told this paper that he has been close friend of Jerry Rawlings for many years even before he became President. When asked what exactly he told Jerry Rawlings, Atta said he had narrated to the ex-President how he once passed the night at the mortuary because he closed late and moreover, it was raining heavily and therefore could not go home. Atta said as the night wore on, he was feeling cold so he wrapped himself in a white cloth and that he later came out to pee when a soldier on guard saw him and mistook him for an apparition or a ghost. �The soldier started to run so I also chased him. I wanted to tell him I was not a ghost but he started to run very fast and I also followed him� Atta narrated and said the soldier eventually stared to scream and woke his neighbors that he had seen a ghost. Atta said he had worked at the 37 Military Hospital Morgue for the past 42 years and that people commonly referred to him as �Atta� or �Oluu�. �Those who say they do not know me may be new here or are telling lies; I was working here before the Nkrumah Coup; I was working here before JJ became President and I was the one who told him that story. It is a true story,� Atta told Daily Guide. On how he felt now that the story had been made public, Atta said he personally listened to Rawlings telling the story from Tamale and that it made him feel good. Ex-President Rawlings in his address to members of the National Democratic Congress last Saturday narrated the story of what one Atta, a mortuary man had told him. Pundits and analysts have given tons of interpretations or misinterpretations to the tale, with some even suggesting that there is not mortuary man at the 37 Hospital by the name Atta and that the ex-President was simply casting insinuations at President Atta Mills. What added a sting to the tale was when President Mills announced on a lighter note that he was dropping the name �Atta� because of the tale of �Atta The Mortuary Man� as told by Jerry Rawlings. Reacting to President Mills banter on the story, Atta said it was unfortunate for the President to have reacted that way. �If you are a mortuary man, it does not mean you should not be called Atta? My family likes my name and I�m proud to be called Atta,� the mortuary man stated. However, supporters of President Mills would have none of the tales being told by Rawlings. Member of Parliament (MP) for Tamale central, Inusah Fuseini, speaking on Metro TVs �Good Morning Ghana� programme yesterday, noted that he did not personally understand the import of the story. He was unhappy that Mr. Rawlings chose to use a name that the sitting President of Ghana was using, adding that �the president never drunk or smoke.� He felt the former President�s story showed disrespect for the presidency. However, Fuseini said he was happy about the way President Mills dealt with the whole situation. Nan Ohene Ntow, who was a co-panelist on the programme, added that the ex-president�s �comic relief was in bad taste and that the story itself was a morbid one for such a congress�. Atta said his job was important because he was responsible for keeping a body clean when a person died. �When you die, I should powder you. Who will go to his grave without some powder on his face?� he asked, exhibiting a high sense of dedication to his job.