We Ghana Together Directors and friends offer our
heartfelt condolences to our friends in Axim on the sad passing of your
President John Evans Atta-Mills.
We know something about how ordinary folks such as you,
feel about such a sad event, because most of us are of the age to remember well
the death of our own President John Kennedy, many years ago, who died while in
office, also. (Note that President Mills died of natural causes.)
Although we are not very familiar with Ghana’s
governmental or political life, we know Ghana is a democracy and to lose an
elected President while he is serving in office is a shock and great loss to
the entire nation, regardless of individual political affiliations.
I thought you might like to read our President Obama’s
statement of July 24, when he heard that Ghana had lost their President.
” It was with great regret that I learned of the
passing of President John Evans Atta Mills of Ghana. I will always remember my
trip to Ghana in 2009, and the hospitality that President Mills and the people
of Ghana showed to me, Michelle, Malia, Sasha and our entire delegation. I was
also pleased to host President Mills in the Oval Office earlier this year.
President Mills tirelessly worked to improve the lives of the Ghanaian people.
He helped promote economic growth in Ghana in the midst of challenging global
circumstances and strengthened Ghana’s strong tradition of democracy. Under his
leadership, the United States and Ghana deepened our partnership in the
promotion of good governance and economic development.
He was also a strong
advocate for human rights and for the fair treatment of all Ghanaians. On
behalf of the American people, I would like to offer my deepest condolences to
the people of Ghana, and reaffirm the deep and enduring bonds between our
democracies that President Mills helped to strengthen.”
We join our own President in these sentiments.
And, we wish Mr. John Dramani Mahama, Ghana’s new
President, well. Some of us have read his recent book, My First Coup D’Etat and other True Stories from the Lost Decades of
Africa. It is a really interesting
and well-written account of his early life and also the early life of Ghana as
an independent nation.
