Teacher Hangs Himself

A physics tutor at the Okomfo Anokye Senior High School at Wiamoase in the Ashanti region has committed suicide at Adoato-Adumanu, a suburb of Kumasi, under bizarre circumstances. Emmanuel Kwaku Dwirah, 33, a trained teacher and native of Asante Akyem Agogo, who was a session clerk at Adoato Presby Church, took his life after reportedly failing to find solutions to his personal problems. Police from the Suntreso District Police Command who were called to the scene found a note believed to have been written and left by the deceased on his table. A National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) card was also found at the scene. In the note allegedly signed by the deceased on Tuesday, November 15, 2011, before committing the abominable act, the deceased explained how hard he had unsuccessfully tried to solve some personal issues. Suicide, in the opinion of the late tutor, was the only solution to the pain, depression, sadness and weeping he endured. “I have passed through all activities including prayers, psychiatric counselling at the Tafo Government Hospital in Kumasi but the problem could not be solved,” he said in the note. According to him, even though he devoted himself to serious prayers and fasting, the problems kept worsening by the day. The late teacher said his problems started when he heard that all pastors who requested items such as ‘akyekyedie akyi’ (back of tortoise) and others were false prophets. He stated in the note that one day, he visited a pastor (name withheld) who told him to bring ‘akyekyedie akyi’ and an empty Frytol bottle to get rid of an evil spirit tormenting him. “Before I was permitted to see this man of God, I bought anointing oil at the cost of GH¢40. “What led me to this man of God was to see him for a herbal medicine for my pile which I had discussed with him about on phone. I think I have betrayed and disappointed God,” he said. He urged his mother, described as Madam Rose, and his siblings not to cry but show “respect and keep the fire burning”. “We shall meet at the appropriate time either in hell or heaven, but it is my prayer that we shall meet in heaven. But if God rejects me, then I will not meet you in heaven,” the late Kwaku Dwirah told his relations in the note. He cautioned them to pray without ceasing and never put their hope in noise-making prophets; admonishing them to stay where they were so that they would not fall. The deceased was found hanging on the hook of a ceiling fan in his bedroom, with a sponge, at about 4pm on Wednesday November 16, 2011. According to a source, a friend of the deceased, who entered his (deceased’s) room, after returning from school, made a distress call to draw residents to the scene. The residents, who could not fathom why the deceased should commit such an act, described him as an introvert, respectful and a very kind person. However, a close friend of the deceased’s, a Presbyterian catechist, who wants to remain unnamed, alleged that the deceased showed keen interest in getting married but was impotent. “I know Emmanuel Dwirah very well. I have personally counselled him on several occasions. I believe he ended his life because of his impotence,” the catechist alleged. “He consulted many herbalists to solve this problem but all failed,” he added. Nana Nkwantabisa, the Suntreso District Crime officer, said the body of the deceased had been deposited at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital’s (KATH) morgue for autopsy. A member of the deceased’s family said he would be buried on Saturday, November 26, 2011.d