The mortal remains of the late Salifu Maikankan were yesterday interred at the East Legon Muslim Cemetery, but the cause of his death is still shrouded in mystery as hospital authorities await results from further tests at the Noguchi Memorial Medical Laboratory and the Ghana Standards Board. Samples required for the tests are said to have been lodged with the two establishments as family members and curious politicians in the New Patriotic Party (NPP) continue to keep their fingers crossed.
Hundreds of NPP supporters and sympathizers from the Kotobabi suburb of Accra, where the deceased lived, poured into the cemetery adjacent to the offices of Newmont at East Legon during the last rites for the late 34-year-old NPP activist also known as MKK. The fluttering flags of the NPP displayed on cars, pickups and taxis were too distinct to be obscured. Those who did not know that the man was going to be buried yesterday were attracted to the burial ground by the banners.
Hon. Hackman Owusu Agyeman, an East Legon resident and former Minister in the Kufuor regime, who was on his way to town stopped by when he saw the NPP colours. He took part in the solemn rite of shoveling sand on the deceased. The late Salifu Maikankan died last Friday after picketing with other NPP supporters at the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) on Thursday when Hon. Asamoah Boateng was being held at the security facility. Just as his remains were being prepared for burial last Friday, family members were asked by the Police for an autopsy to establish the cause of death.
The Police took the body to the Police Hospital but transferred it to the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital where another hitch prevented the pathologist from carrying out the procedure as some documentation was demanded from the Police. The remains were returned to the Police Hospital, and then returned to Korle-Bu again where the procedure was finally undertaken. The corpse was released to the family yesterday.
The question many kept asking upon hearing that the burial had taken place was, �what was the cause of death�? Although many did not know that the body had been released to the family, the few who heard that the burial had been scheduled for 10am, yesterday stormed the cemetery in their numbers. Tears were shed when the remains of the deceased were finally lowered into the grave and the bier taken away into a waiting vehicle.
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