President Mills died two hours prior to arrival at 37 Military Hospital

The Accra-based tabloid DAILY GUIDE newspaper at the beginning of the three-days official funeral memorial of late President John Evans Atta Mills is reporting that it has intercepted a copy of the autopsy report on the cause of death. The post-mortem, according to the DAILY GUIDE, rather than settling the issue of the cause of death of the former president, is likely to raise other issues, especially since the government has kept quiet on it, rather referring it to the family. This is because though "there are strong indications that former President John Evans Atta Mills choked on his own blood after suffering a rupture of a major blood vessel," the fact that there was "there was nobody by his side to render a helping hand or even engage medical assistance when the danger signs were manifesting" brings to the fore the demands by groups such as the Alliance for Accountable Governance (AFAG) for a coroner's inquest.

"The report also showed that the late president died before reaching the military hospital some two hours earlier, a revelation which further throws a question about the veracity of previous reports of whether he died at the hospital or at the Castle. The report has provided more grounds for those agitating for a post-mortem to proceed with their demands, especially since the autopsy shows that there are still gray areas in the management of the late president’s situation. Why was the deceased left unattended to when it was obvious that he was suffering from a terminal ailment and so could not be left alone without attention? At the time that he was struggling to breathe because of the blood getting in the way of his air passage, someone in attendance could have raised the alarm for an expert attention to be sought immediately. The report brings to the fore, once more, the inconsistencies regarding where the late president died. While some claim he died at the Castle, others want us to believe that he passed away upon reaching the military hospital at 2:15pm on Tuesday, July 24, 2012," the DAILY GUIDE reported.

The post-mortem report DAILY GUIDE chanced upon it claimed revealed that the remote cause of death, which has been in the public domain for a long time yet disputed by the deceased’s handlers, is throat cancer. The immediate cause of death however has been attributed to the choking resulting from the ruptured blood vessel.

The only known child of the late president, Samuel Atta Mills paying his last respect

The cancerous growth, according to the report, metastasized or spread to his sinuses, that is the cavity of the nasal passage, which perhaps accounted for his altered voice in his last days. The inflammation or diseasing of this part of the body is referred to as sinusitis. It would be recalled that the deceased, in the heat of questions about his health when he sought treatment in a South African hospital, said he was suffering from sinusitis.

The autopsy report explained that the tumor or growth ruptured his carotid artery, a major blood vessel so he bled profusely and with no assistance at the time, he suffocated, which was what was referred to by those who set eyes on him when he was brought to the military hospital on that fateful day.

The loss of blood from his nostrils led those agitating for a post-mortem to suspect poisoning because in their estimation, bleeding was consistent with the symptoms of poisoning, especially when the deceased had said for the umpteenth time that he was not sick.

"The position taken by government is seen as hypocritical, especially when it has told the family that the departed president was a state asset since he died in office," the DAILY GUIDE stated.