Suicide Man Is Ambassador Sekyi

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Category: Obituaries

Created on Tuesday, 22 May 2012 00:00

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Suicide Man Is Ambassador Sekyi

THE identity of the man who jumped from the 9th floor of the Trust Towers building at Asylum Down in Accra, killing himself, has been unraveled.

THE identity of the man who jumped from the 9th floor of the Trust Towers building at Asylum Down in Accra, killing himself, has been unraveled.

The 70-year-old man has been identified as Clarus Kobina Sekyi, a career diplomat and former Ambassador to Algeria, according to the police.

The police have recovered his block-coloured Honda Civic saloon car with registration number GE 8246 W, parked at the Trust Towers, after family sources were contacted through his mobile phone which was found on him.

The deceased was appointed in December 2001 by President John Agyekum Kufuor to Algeria, together with Prof Mike Oquaye, who was assigned to India.

He had also served in the United States, France, Russia and other African countries on foreign service missions.

He was a career diplomat and lately a lecturer at the Legon Centre for International Affairs and Diplomacy (LECIAD) at the University of Ghana. He was scheduled to be retiring in July when he would be 70.

He was reported to have invited his lawyer to his office on that fateful Wednesday to prepare his final Will.

However, he probably could not wait for the lawyer before embarking on the suicide mission as reports said the lawyer did not meet him but left the documents behind in his office where the deceased left his suicide note.

Sources said he named all his children, wife and a friend domiciled in Paris and wished them well, telling them he was sorry and asked for their forgiveness but stopped short of telling them why he wanted to end his life.

Clarus Kobina Sekyi is known for dressing smartly in suit and well polished shoes as a diplomat and lived in his plush residence at East Legon.

His friends who spoke with DAILY GUIDE expressed utter shock at the tragedy.

A colleague lecturer told DAILY GUIDE he had about five phone calls from the deceased on the morning of that fateful day till about 12:30pm when they stopped communicating.

The two were planning a seminar and dinner for LECIAD students.

The event was slated to come on tomorrow, Saturday, May 26, 2012 where he was to be honoured since he had already announced his retirement to staff and students.

Frank Emmanuel Adufati, the Accra Regional Crime Officer, told DAILY GUIDE that at about 2:45pm, the police had information that the deceased had jumped from the 9th floor of the Trust Towers building, killing himself instantly.

He reportedly fell on a concrete slab before toppling to a flower bed in front of the tower where he lay prostrate.

A team of investigators from the Adabraka Police Station and the Crime Scene Management team from the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Headquarters were dispatched to the location were the body was retrieved from the scene and deposited at the Police Hospital morgue for autopsy.

The police retrieved a pair of brown sandals, a wristwatch, a mobile phone, white handkerchief, a complimentary card bearing his name, a GH¢20 note, and a Honda saloon car ignition key.

Mr Sekyi was said to have removed his sandals which he left in one of the washrooms on the 9th floor before jumping through the window.

Drama unfolded when the crime scene management team, in a bid to recover the car of the deceased, opened a silver-metallic Honda saloon car belonging to one Moses Baiden.

The crowd which followed the police heaved a sigh of relief when police finally got the car, with registration number ER 2760 X, opened after trying the key on several others.

However, an angry-looking Moses Baiden soon emerged at the scene showing his identity card, claiming ownership of the vehicle and warning the media not to show his car in their stories as that of the deceased.

Police also confirmed that the complimentary card found on the deceased belonged to him, indicating he intentionally made attempts to help the police to identify him.

He was last seen at the Legon campus where he even lectured that morning before embarking on the deadly mission.

BY Rocklyn Antonio

Source: Daily Guide/Ghana