Biography of John Evans Atta Mills (3rd President of the 4th Republic of Ghana) Part 2

For the inaugural presidential election in 1992, the National Convention Party (NCP) had formed an alliance with the National Democratic Congress (NDC). Former Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) Chairman, and leader of Ghana, Flight-Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings chose the NCP leader, Kow Nkensen Arkaah, as his running-mate for vice-president. Having been elected in the 1992 election, Arkaah served between 1992–1996. However, on 29 January 1996, the NCP broke with the NDC. Arkaah with the National Convention Party formed the Great Alliance with the New Patriotic Party. And was subsequently nominated as the running mate of John Agyekum Kufuor to challenge the National Democratic Congress. Rawlings selected Mills for the vacated Vice-Presidency in his bid for re-election to a second term in the election and was re-elected to his second term in office, serving from 1996 to 2000. In his capacity as Vice-President, he served as the Chairman of the Police Council of Ghana and the Chairman of the Economic Management Team. In 2000, Mills became the NDC’s candidate for the 2000 presidential election after Rawlings had served his constitutionally mandated terms as president. The main rival for Mills’ own bid for the presidency was John Agyekum Kufuor, who was running as the candidate for the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP). In the heat of the 2000 presidential campaign, Mills was roundly criticized for statements that if elected he would consult with Rawlings daily. Inthe first round, held on 7 December 2000, Mills gained 44.8% of the vote, Kufuor won the first round with 48.4%, thus forcing a second round. On 28 December 2000, Kufuor defeated Mills with 56.9% of the vote and was sworn in as president on 7 January 2001. In December 2002, Mills was elected by his party to be its flag bearer and lead them into the 2004 election. Hewas, however, defeated again by incumbent president John Agyekum Kufuor, who received 52.45% of the vote on the first ballot. On 21 December 2006, he became the NDC’s candidate for the 2008 presidential election, winning his party’s ticket by an 81.4% result (1,362 votes), far ahead of his opponents, Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, Alhaji Mahama Iddrisu, and Eddie Annan. Inthe 2008 election, John Agyekum Kufuor was no longer eligible to run as president, having served two terms. It was during this time that the term Better Ghana Agenda was coined. During the 2008 elections, in an attempt to change the public perception at the time that he would be a political lackey of his former mentor, Jerry Rawlings when elected, he distanced himself from his previous comments made in the 2000 campaign . Mills’ main opponent from the New Patriotic Party was now Nana Akufo-Addo. Mills ran under the campaign slogan of “A Better Man for a Better Ghana,” on a platform of change. He said: “People are complaining. They’re saying that their standard of living has deteriorated these past eight years. So if Ghana is a model of growth, it’s not translating into something people can feel.” Theresult of the first ballot had Akufo-Addo in front with 49.13% of the vote to Mills’ 47.92%, however, a run-off second round of voting was needed. The second round of voting took place on 28 December 2008. The result was a slim lead held by Mills, but due to problems with the distribution of ballots, the Tain constituency, located in the Brong-Ahafo Region, was forced to vote again on 2 January 2009. The final result was a victory by Mills with 50.23% of the vote to Akufo-Addo’s 49.77%. Mills became the third president of the 4th Republic of Ghana. Self-describedas a social democrat who believed in the concept of social welfare espoused by Kwame Nkrumah (independent Ghana’s first leader), Mills embraced a political platform that was more comprehensive and less divisive than that of either Nkrumah or Rawlings. John Atta Mills was sworn in as president on 7 January 2009 in a peaceful transition after Kufor was narrowly defeated. Hispersistence and determination paid off when he won the 2008 presidential poll. Mills died on 24th July 2012 at the 37 Military Hospital in Accra, three days after his 68th birthday. Though the cause of death was not immediately released, he had been suffering from throat cancer and had recently been to the US for medical reasons. Announcing his death, his office noted that he died hours after being taken ill, but a presidential aide said that he had complained of pains the day prior to his death. However, Mills’ brother, Dr. Cadman Mills later disclosed during the graveside service that he had died from complications of a massive hemorrhagic stroke resulting from brain aneurysm. According to the BBC, his voice had degenerated in the previous few months. Former minister Elizabeth Ohene said that as a result of previous false reports of his death, she had not believed initial claims of his actual death. “For the past three or four years, there’s been news he’s been unwell and rumours of his death – twice – and he appeared with grim humour to say they were exaggerated, insisting he was well.” His vice president John Dramani Mahama was sworn in at about 20:00 GMT on the same day. In accordance with Ghana’s constitution, Mahama’s tenure expired at the same time Mills’ was due to end, by the end of the year just prior to an election, in which he was due to run. Mahama said upon being inaugurated in parliament: “This is the saddest day in our nation’s history. Tears have engulfed our nation and we are deeply saddened and distraught. I never imagined that one day that it would place our nation in such a difficult circumstance. I’m personally devastated, I’ve lost a father, I’ve lost a friend, I’ve lost a mentor and a senior comrade. Ghana is united in grief at this time for our departed president.” From 8–10 August, his body lay in state, and Ghanaian government officials, civil society, traditional leaders, the clergy, the general public and dignitaries such as Côte d’Ivoire’s Alassane Ouattara, Liberia’s Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Nigeria’s Goodluck Jonathan and Senegal’s Macky Sall paid their last respects. Within this period, a two-night vigil was also held at the forecourt of the State House for cultural and musical performances such as traditional dirges, plays and tribute reading. Thousands streamed into the State House to pay their last respects to Mills as he lay in state with some mourners queuing for hours, many of them wailing with grief, in lines up to 10 km (6 miles) long per press reports. The body was then taken by a military cortege from the State House parliamentary complex to the Independence Square for the funerary services which was attended by 18 African Heads of State, 5 Vice-Presidents, United States Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, former United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Cardinal Peter Turkson, Secretary-General of African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States, Mohamed Ibn Chambas and several other international envoys. In all, there were 67 foreign delegations represented at the funeral. In addition to the over 50,000 people who gathered for the ceremony, his funeral was also attended by Benin’s Thomas Boni Yayi, who said of Mills that he was “passionate about peace in Africa and in the region,” as well as Togo’s Faure Gnassingbe, who said “[Mills] was like a brother to me. I will surely miss him.” Ahead of religious ceremonies on Friday morning, the officially declared national day of mourning, a helicopter hovered over the area dropping leaflets reading: We want peaceful elections in 2012. The funeral ended with the release of a hundred white doves into the air to signify the peaceful nature of the departed leader. After the funeral service, the president’s body was taken on a military procession through some principal streets of the Ghanaian capital, Accra and then for burial in a newly created presidential mausoleum located in a bird sanctuary, Geese Park renamed Asomdwee (Peace) Memorial Park along the Marine Drive and next to the old seat of government, the 17th-century Fort Christiansborg, (also known as Osu Castle), which overlooks the Atlantic Ocean’s Gulf of Guinea. As the sitting Commander-in-Chief, Mills was accorded full military honours, steeped in distinct and elaborate traditions, including a slow march by the Ghana Army, a fly-past of Ghana Air Force jets ejecting plumes of smoke in the national colours of red, gold and green, with the Ghana Navy ships also performing ceremonial manoeuvres on the shoreline behind the Independence Square and a 21-gun salute accompanying the playing of the bugle call, Sunset and the Christian hymn, Abide with Me (Eventide), in addition to sounding of the Last Post by military buglers after the casket had been lowered into the grave. Approximately 700 domestic and foreign media outlets received accreditation from the Ghanaian Ministry of Information to cover the event. An estimated 20–25 million television and online or web audience watched the three-day funeral ceremonies. The state funeral for the late president was most likely the largest gathering of people in one place at a single public event in recent or modern Ghanaian history. After his burial her wife now lives a very quiet life away from the Media. Sources : http://African-research.com and http://Wikipedia.com