How Emmanuel Kyerematen Agyarko died in the USA

Members of Parliament (MPs) were shocked on Thursday when they were told that the condition of their colleague, Emmanuel Kyerematen Agyarko, strangely deteriorated even with life support after he himself had left the country over the weekend for the US to seek further medical attention.

A former Minister of Energy Boakye Agyarko and brother of the late Member of Parliament (MP) Ayawaso West Wuogon, who died on Wednesday at the Yale University Hospital in the United States, told MPs who had gone to the residence to commiserate with the family that his late brother had been diagnosed with gallbladder.

Boakye Agyarko disclosed that his brother battled with the disease for the past three months and had to travel to the US due to the deteriorating health condition.

He would have celebrated his 61st birthday on December 10, this year.

According to the brother, the family had made an arrangement for him to undergo operation at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital but had to go to the US when his condition worsened.

He said he made arrangements for further treatment at the Yale University Hospital where there are some experienced Ghanaian medical doctors working there.

“As soon as he got to the hospital in the US, his condition started deteriorating and had to be put on life support to allow for any medical intervention to be made.

“On Sunday, he boarded a flight to the US. He began processes for admission at the Yale University Hospital, where our older sister works. One thing led to the other and quickly the situation began to unravel. Within a space of three months, a healthy body has been reduced to a cold body.

“The health personnel tried whatever they could. Ghanaian doctors who realized an MP from their country has been admitted owed it a responsibility to salvage the situation. At a point, there was no way his life would be sustained. Knowing how he loved and enjoyed life, we knew very well that it would not have been his wish to be on life support.”

He said while on life support, his condition continued to deteriorate after all the necessary medical interventions.

He explained that at a point the doctors realized that no medical intervention could save his brother so he was taken off the life support machine at about 1.20pm on Wednesday in the US (7pm Ghana time) and immediately gave up the ghost.

“At midnight on Tuesday, the situation started unraveling quickly again. It stabilized and unraveled again. On Wednesday at dawn, his whole system began to decline, there was nothing to be done except the assistance of his own creator. At about 1:20pm, the doctors came around and took away the life support. As soon as the tube was taken away at around 7 pm Ghana time, he passed on,” he narrated.

He said the family is very devastated by the death of their ‘big’ brother who was an inspiration to the other siblings throughout his life.

The former minister said the family would give him a befitting burial, adding that consultations were ongoing to fix a date for his funeral.

The Deputy Majority Leader, Adwoa Safo, said that she enquired about the whereabouts of the former MP who was the chairman of the Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation Committee of Parliament when the debate on the budget started on Tuesday for him to lead the majority side in the debate on science and technology for her to be told that he had left for the US for medical attention.

She said the news of his death on Wednesday evening was a complete shock to the majority in Parliament.

She said Parliament is prepared to give a befitting farewell to the late MP who contributed significantly to the work of the house as ranking member of the Committee on Environment, Science and Technology and later as the chairman of the same committee.

The Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, said Kyeremateng Agyarko was a gentleman of a rare kind who was very affable and a personal friend to him.

Haruna Iddrisu said he was one of the people the deceased consulted when he wanted to contest as MP and that he was very saddened by his death.

The first Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Joseph Osei-Owusu, said Parliament would solidly support the family in these trying times until the funeral is over.

Mr. Agyarko succeeded the current Chief of Staff, Frema Osei-Opare, as MP in the Ayawaso West Wuogon Constituency in 2012.