R.I.P Prof. John Evans Atta Mills

Ghana as a young republic is always making history from time to time and I will tell you they just made yet another one and more is on the way. This time, it will be good ones and not just bad as the “Cockroach theory” might propose.

What history did Ghanaians make this time if you might ask? Well for the first time in the history of the young democracy, President John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills joined the silent choir while in office during his first term as the president of the forth republic of Ghana. He was also the third elected president and the third to be called John to have been in Castle Osu, which is the seat of government. 

His death was like a silent storm and I think that is great way to die, I wouldn’t ask for any better way than that. You might think I’m insane but the truth is, we’ll all die, and I just see death like the age of puberty which every human being will experience once in their life. So we might as well want to start learning how to die. I wasn’t very surprise when news about his death was suddenly all over the internet within a matter of seconds after his demise like wild fire. 

Professor Mills as he was poplar known was for sometimes before or shortly after he took office was never well and I heard of his death so many times before he finally passed away. Of course during a life time, we all die couple of times before our death but that is more of philosophical and I don’t want to go there yet. So at first I was very pessimistic about the truism of his death but when I began to see the headlines from international and other well trusted websites, I began to consider the news to be true. 

Besides those websites, I had a call from my sister telling me of something I had asked her to do and before I hanged up, she also confirmed that Prof. was gone.

He was accordingly not known to be sick though he did make known to his people that he wasn’t feeling good but prior to that, he was in the United States for a medical checkup. He was accordingly also headed to Nigerian for business talks with their president Hon. Good Luck Jonathan but the unprecedented thing happened. 

He was 68 years of age, not an age of someone with so much in terms of status but due to sicknesses believed to have been throat cancer amongst others, had to leave early. He died at one of the nation’s top hospitals called the 37 Military Hospital on the 24^th day of the 7^th month and when you add  that up, thus 37, 24 and 7 you get 68 as the years in his life and he also died exactly the 3^rd day after his 68^th birthday. So those are all things that came with the president’s death. Many said he was truly God sent. I personally believed he will rest in peace. 

He was a very educated man as stated earlier, with a PhD from London School of Economics yet very humble and no one could trace any element of arrogance in him. He became a Law Professor at the nation’s premier university, Legon as well as a traveling professor to the US and the Netherlands. He was also nominated Fulbright Scholar. And later became the vice president during former president Rawlings regime before he was finally elected to the presidency in 2008 after having tried three times. He was known by many in Ghana as the King of Peace because he used to easily surrender to confrontations in the name of peace whenever there was anything like disagreement or dissatisfaction of polls results between him and the other opposing parties, especially the minority NPP today.

Prof. Mills ran a good race and fought a good fight said by St. Paul the apostle. The people of Ghana truly cherished him and will deeply feel your departure with the vacuum left. But God knows why He called you home this early. We are all goners and shall be joining you some day. R.I.P. but if tears were something that could bring you back to life, you would have been back in just less than five minutes after your death. The whole world was in tears and shock once they heard you weren’t anymore. 

There Ghana on this very note has experience yet another evidence of history though it is bad one. My last respect therefore goes to you Ex-President Mills, as I heard you will be buried at the Flagstaff House in Accra next month.