A 69-year-old herbal medicine practitioner, Dr Felix Antwi Danlwah, has died under suspicious circumstances following an alleged food poisoning incident and a suspected arson attack at his and clinic, the Antwi Herbal & Spiritual Centre at Kasoa.
Various reports suggest that, it was only his part of the bedroom that was involved in the fire. The parts where his wife has her bedroom and that of the staff did not suffer the blaze.
Dr Dankwah alias I see you, died on August 10. His wife and the two staff members have since been arrested by the police and are assisting with investigations.
His older children suspect foul play and are demanding justice. His son, based in Belgium, and his daughter, Yaa, who lives in the United Kingdom (UK), have both flown back
Family demands justice
The bereaved children are urging the Ghana Police Service to conduct a thorough investigation, and they are calling on President John Mahama and the general public to add their voices to the demand for justice.
“Anyone that knows about this death will pay for it. Anyone that takes bribe and makes this case a foolish case they and their generations will suffer for it”, the deceased daughter said while mourning.
They are also calling on authorities including President John Mahama and the general public to add their voices to their call for the right thing to be done.
“What we are saying is that the public including the president must add their voice to our call and ensure justice is served”, Yaa added.
Deceased narrates poisoning incident in audio recording
Weeks after his death, an audio recording of the deceased giving a blow-by-blow account of how he was poisoned has surfaced online.
In the recoding, Dr Dankwah narrated how he unknowingly consumed a meal of taro, locally known as ‘brobe’, prepared by his cook.
Shortly after, he said, he suffered a severe stomach upset, vomiting and diarrhea for so long that at one point he feared he was going to die.
According to him, the cook later informed him that the remaining food had also been contaminated by his embattled wife and some other persons, and asked for money to buy fresh supplies from the market.
It was this poisoning case that the police at Kasoa instructed that they go home and return the next day so they take it to court that she got burnt the night before the meeting date.
The deceased had sold his properties to facilitate her settlement there with their four younger children.
Son alleges murder, disputes self-immolation claim
The deceased’s older son, Osei Antwi, who returned to Ghana for four months after the poisoning incident, to seek medical care for him, accused his stepmother of being behind the death.
He maintains that his father was killed and the house set ablaze to cover up the crime.
“The main issue is that he was murdered before he was burnt. The fire incident was just a cover-up. There are things I cannot say because the matter is still under investigation”, Osei Antwi said.
He questioned claims that his father set himself on fire: “Thus man did not offend you. He ensued that you and your children were settled in the UK by selling his properties at Kasoa. He took very good care of you, so you should have reciprocated by ensuring we all took good care of him until his natural death.
If your children are respecting what you, as a mother, are telling them—- that our father set himself ablaze—– if you are sensible, how can you believe this? How can he set himself on fire? As children, we are going to do everything within our power so he gets justice. The person who united us, you have eliminated him”.
Daughter recalls final conversation
Yaa recounted her last conversation with her late father and how she learned of his sudden death. “I spoke to my father for the last time on August 10, and he told me about the food poisoning incident. He said he had reported it to the place and that he and my stepmother had been invited.
What ensued there was a lot. I personally cautioned him to be careful about what he eats, and he assured me, Yaa, I am going to do that’. We spoke for about two hours. That night, I was asleep when my elder called to inform me there had been a fire and that my father had been burnt to death. I was so shocked. He was not sick—-we would even have wished he was sick so we could take care of him until he died, but that did not happen. When we went to see the body, it had been destroyed to the point that we cannot even lay him state”, she said.
Crime scene reportedly looted
The family has also raised concerns about theft at the property. Despite the house being marked as a crime scene, they say intruders have been breaking in and stealing items, including an air conditioners, the electricity main switch, the water meter, and a water pumping machine.
The children said they are yet to enter the house because it remains under investigation, adding, “We are imagining what has been stolen from inside.”
The family maintains its call on the public, the authorities, and the President to ensure that justice is served.
By Gifty Boateng