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John Atta Mills has died aged 68
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Re: President of Ghana Died
RIP
7/5th of all people do not understand fractions. -
Re: President of Ghana Died
RIP, Mr. President.
Wahalla, what kind of legacy has he left?Comment
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Re: President of Ghana Died
IMHO a better one than his peers and better than his predessesors...I beleive that he played the oil card correctly and will be well remembered.. the fact he participated in a peaceful change of goverment in Africa and moved away from the popularism of the Rawlings despite being a member of his party.....
There is a lady who posts on here who is a muslim and lives in Ghana her opnion will have more value than mine...
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Re: President of Ghana Died
damn that really sucks.
Always de good ones leff wi furss, cho.Comment
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Re: President of Ghana Died
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: BlackStar</div><div class="ubbcode-body">RIP, Mr. President.
Wahalla, what kind of legacy has he left? </div></div>
look like Dahjah might be able to fill you in on his legacy..
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Emperah</div><div class="ubbcode-body">damn that really sucks.
Always de good ones leff wi furss, cho. </div></div>When its hot in the jungle of peace I go swimming in the ocean of love.....Comment
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Re: President of Ghana Died
The fact that after Rawlings Ghana had a peaceful change must be highlighted... That he tried for the presidency three times without success yet did not burn down the country as is often in African natuions has to a credit to the man.. I understand that corruption has fallen according to transparency international....I know Ghanaians were happy at their elections. My understanding with guys who met him and dealt with him after the election was they could do buisness with him... There was no thrown out contracts after the party change of power.. at the time this was expected.
In his last speeches he had been highlighting it seems the need to get weath distributed fairer..
It is nice to see a acedemian and a tax expert in power!Comment
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Re: President of Ghana Died
Thanks, Wahalla. I did see an opinion piece from Ghana (dated before his death) saying how the president had let the Chinese in and now they own most of the country. Any truth to the idea that he "encouraged" excessive investments from China?Comment
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Re: President of Ghana Died
I'm in Ghana right now. Flags flying at half staff and most of the people sad with the passing. The weather is cloudy and cool which adds to the sombre mood. Gtv playing tributes to the President Atta-Mills all day.
The VP sworn in just a few hours after the prez dead yesterday afternoon. No signs of any coup as would likely happen in many neighboring countries.
I hope the reggae night at Labadi Beach is still on tonight.Comment
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Re: President of Ghana Died
I know that it is not the president of the united states of america... but to me here is an example of the inclusiveness that we need in Africa.. Kudos to former President Kufuor... That there was a peaceful change...
Ebo Quansah in Accra
In the midst of life, say the sages, we are in death. The passing away of Asomdweehene John Evans Atta Mills, President of the Republic and Commander in Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces has virtually frozen all activities at the centre of the earth.
“When beggars die,” wrote William Shakespeare, “there are no comets seen. The heavens themselves blaze for the death of Princes.”
Since the official statement from Chief of Staff officially announced that Prof. John Evans Atta Mills had joined his ancestors, the nation has been in grief.
Tributes from all manner of people have poured in to sympathize with the Government and people of Ghana. United States President Barack Hussein Obama, the first head of state to visit Ghana after the swearing in of then President Mills, has expressed his regret at the passing away of the leader of the nation.
His Secretary of State Hilary Clinton has expressed her profound sorrow at the passing on of the man whose humble nature and willingness to co-operate with all manner of people endeared him to the hearts of all and sundry.
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Mr. David Cameron described the late President as a tireless defender of democracy in West Africa and across the continent, and he will be greatly missed.
Former junta head, Jerry John Rawlings, who engineered the formation of the ruling National Democratic Congress from the butt of the gun, spoke to the BBC about his former deputy.
Though everybody knew that the deceased Head of State had not enjoyed a clean bill of health for sometime now, it was a bit out of the mark for the deceased Head of State’s former boss to suggest on BBC that he could have lived longer if he had been wiser.
Everybody knew that Prof. Atta Mills had not enjoyed the best of health throughout the three and a half years of leading the nation. But I thought it was not statesmanlike for the former junta head to go on international radio to discuss the type of illness that might have taken him to his ancestors.
“It was quite a shock to both my wife and I because though he has been battling with cancer for a while. This is certainly the wrong time for him to go because we have elections around the corner in December,” Flt. Lt. Rawlings said.
The man who took the deceased Head of State from political oblivion to become Head of State of the Republic continued: “Quite frankly, I think that had he been advised and done something wiser earlier on, he would probably have survived for six or seven years, I guess. But it got too high. It got extremely high.”
I do not believe that as a statesman, former President Rawlings had to make these assertions on international radio. I am appalled by Mr. Rawlings assertion that one of the reasons why he had failed to appreciate the work of the deceased Head of State was his unwillingness to try officials of the Kufuor Government for the murder of a number of women during his Rawlings’ own regime.
I fail to appreciate the concerns of Mr. Rawlings. As head of state, he had no clue to the assassination of more than 32 women across the country. When the Kufuor regime tried to unravel the mystery, Mr. Rawlings, who had been touring the country and castigating members of the regime for their connection to these murders, was given the opportunity to prove his assertion.
Not only did he fail to do so. He created laughter in society by calling for chemical interrogation as condition for disclosure. The founder of the NDC acknowledged the contribution of the deceased leader in nation-building, though.
“He’s played his part as my vice-President, he was one of the finest, but there again, considering that the cancer affected his eyes and ears, he could not sustain more than three hours a day, so it was going to affect his performance.”
It is common knowledge that there is no love lost between Jerry Rawlings and President John Dramani Mahama. Even then, I shudder to think about the former junta head’s reason for declining to proffer an opinion on the man Mr. Rawlings himself chose to lead his Communication Ministry when he sat at the Castle.
Asked to comment on the competence of the new President of Ghana, Mr. Rawlings told the BBC: “I don’t k now, I hope.”
It is a known fact that the founder of the NDC and the new President are not the best of pals. In the run-up to the 2008 elections, the grapevine was awash with rumours that on the day Mr. John Dramani Mahama was officially accepted at a meeting of the Functional Executive Committee of the NDC to become the running mate to then Presidential Candidate Mills, a wrong time for the meeting was deliberately communicated to the founder. By the time Flt Lt. Rawlings got to the meeting grounds, Mr. Mahama had already been introduced and accepted as Vice-Presidential candidate.
Insiders said that the founder of the party was livid. But there was nothing that he could do to reverse the decision of the party’s top organ. Evidence points to the fact that the tension that characterized the relationship between the office of the founder and the Castle is likely to continue.
I am inclined to side with ex-President John Agyekum Kufuor, who suggested that the whole nation should celebrate the life of the departed Head of State. Kufuor said, having earned as an exceptionally great professor, a tax expert who led the Internal Revenue Service for a number of years and became President of the Republic. How many people will get the opportunity to live such a brilliant life?’ Kufuor asked.
The Gentle giant said Ghanaians should let the departed Head of State’s life guide them to temper with the incessant partisanship and divisiveness that has characterized the nation’s politics.
I cannot agree more with the Gentle Giant, whose tenure as Head of State brought tension in society to a very low level.
The deceased President was a sportsman. He played for the University of Ghana team at football and hockey. In fact, he was playing active hockey as a key member of the Old Achimotan and Citizens teams, even when he was Vice-President of the Republic.
He became a top sports administrator – as Board Chairman of Accra Hearts of Oak, Board Chairman of the National Sports Council and Vice-President of the Ghana Olympic Committee.
On the academic front, he was lecturer, senior lecturer and Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Ghana. He was for several years head of the Internal Revenue Service, during which time he spear-headed the introduction of the Value Added Tax that has come to raise finance for a number of worthy courses.
With such an illustrious career, the nation has much to celebrate about the life of the former President. Some of us are waiting on the new President to outline how the nation would honour its departed head.
In the words of Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams, head Pastor of Action Faith Chapel, “it is not how you die. I think we emphasize too much about death. But the family and all of us as citizens should reflect more on how he lived so that all of us can be strengthened to up our eyes to the future.”
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