The widow of the late Dr. John Kumah, Deputy Minister for Finance and Member of Parliament for the Ejisu constituency, Apostle Mrs. Lilian Kumah, has refuted claims that her husband died from food poisoning.
In an exclusive interview with Wilberforce Asare of Asaase Radio, to clarify the circumstances surrounding her husband’s passing, Apostle Lilian Kumah disclosed that Dr. Kumah had been battling a terminal illness for nearly a year, diagnosed by doctors in Germany.
She emphasized that her husband succumbed to the terminal illness on Thursday, 7 March 2024, and not from food poisoning.
Responding to widespread speculation, Apostle Lilian Kumah urged individuals to refrain from spreading baseless rumours, which only serve to compound the grief of her family and the wider community.
Consequently, the grieving widow has called for action against Blessed Godsbrain Smart, known as Captain Smart, who publicly asserted without evidence that her husband was poisoned.
Expressing her frustration, Apostle Lilian Kumah demanded accountability from all those making unfounded claims.
“If there are laws in this country concerning such false claims, I think this is the time for the leadership of the land to bring that wicked person (Captain Smart) to book,” she stressed.
Reflecting on her late husband’s journey, she revealed that Dr. Kumah was diagnosed with a blood-related disease in August 2023 during a medical check-up in Germany. Throughout his medical treatments in both Germany and Ghana, poisoning was never mentioned by any medical professionals.
She detailed the events leading to the passing of her husband, recounting how he passed away at Suhum Government Hospital after his condition rapidly deteriorated while en route from Ejisu to Accra.
According to her,
despite efforts to stabilize the husband, he could not be saved.
Dr. John Kumah died at about 12:40 PM at the Suhum government hospital after an ambulance he was travelling in together with his wife and medical doctor, from Ejisu to Accra was diverted to the Suhum medical facility when the doctor on board noticed his condition was fast deteriorating.
On arrival at the hospital, a little after 11:00 am on Thursday, 7 March 2024, the medical team moved straight away to try and stabilize him so he could continue with his journey to Accra for his onward planned journey to Germany where he has been receiving treatment for his health challenge. However, the Suhum government hospital’s efforts failed to keep him alive.
The late Dr. John Kumah was a lawyer in private practice and an entrepreneur with over 15 years of experience in leadership, creativity, innovation, and resourcefulness in creating jobs and supporting youth development.
As the first chief executive officer for the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP), he successfully positioned the NEIP as the enabler of the entrepreneurship ecosystem in Ghana.
Under his leadership, the programme trained the staff of seven thousand (7,000) start-ups in 2018 under the Presidential Business Support Programme and supported one thousand, three hundred and fifty (1,350) beneficiaries with funds.
Before he began working for the government, Kumah was the founding member and managing partner of the law firm Aduaprokye Chambers.
He also worked as the founder of Majak Associates Ltd, a building and construction company.
In November 2020, Dr. Kumah received a doctorate in business innovation from the Swiss Business School in Switzerland.
Before then, he had acquired a Master’s degree in applied business research from the same business school in 2019.
