AFTER battling an unspecified ailment for the last few months, President John Attah Mills of Ghana died today at the age of 68.
Mr. Mills who emerged as president in 2008 following an election widely praised as free and fair died at the 37 Military Hospital in Ghana.
The president’s last major public appearance was on June 3rd this year, when he visited the scene of an air crash at the Ghanaian capital of Accra. Observers said the president, who arrived to convey his sadness over the incident, appeared quite sickly.
For several years, the Ghanaian president was a pilgrim to the Synagogue Church of All Nations led by “wonder-doer” T.B Joshua.
The late Ghanaian President, who could have done much to improve the quality of medicine and healthcare delivery of his poor country of 20 million-plus people, joined the rank of superstitious miracle-seekers African leaders who patronize the doubtful claims of Pastor Joshua. Gabon’s President Omar Bongo was another African leader who visited the church. So also did the late President Frederick Chiluba of Zambia.
Born John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills on July 21 1944, he was the third and incumbent president of Ghana who has been president since on Jan. 7, 2009 after defeating ruling party candidate Nana Akufo-Addo in the 2008 election.
The death of the president of the world’s No. 2 cocoa grower comes months before Mills was due to stand for re-election at the helm of the West African country that posted double-digit growth in 2011 and has been praised for its strong democracy in a turbulent region.
“It is with a heavy heart…that we announce the sudden and untimely death of the president of the Republic of Ghana,” the president office said Tuesday.
Mills, who oversaw the start of oil production in Ghana, returned from medical checks in the United States several weeks ago.