TODAY is a sad day for Ghanaians. It is a day that they would bury Professor John Evans Atta Mills, the first Ghanaian president to die in office. Today is a climax of a three-day burial programme, which began on Wednesday. Mills is to be buried on the grounds of the seat of government at Osu Castle in Accra, the Ghanaian Capital.
Some 16 heads of state in addition to other foreign dignitaries, including the US Secretary of State, Mrs Hillary Clinton, are expected at the state burial service, according to Chairman of the funeral committee, Kofi Totobi-Quakyi. Clinton is currently on an African tour.
The death of Mills, a professor of Economics, on July 24, five months ahead of elections in which he was to seek re-election, threw the West African nation into mourning and raised stakes for the presidential contest in a country that recently joined the ranks of the world’s significant oil producers.
Ghana’s new President, John Dramani Mahama, government officials and diplomats viewed Mills body at the parliamentary complex, Accra, where it was lying in state on Wednesday, followed by the general public yesterday. There were showers of tributes on both Wednesday and yesterday evenings, including music and speeches.
Accra was filled with tributes to Mills, who was widely praised for his integrity, including billboards saying, “we shall always remember you,” while many residents wore black and red bands and scarves as symbols of their grief.
“The outpourings of emotions on the death of our president show that we Ghanaians are united in our collective sense of loss,” Totobi-Quakyie said.
Accra police commissioner Patrick Timbillah said heavy security would be in place for the funeral, with major roads cordoned off.
Totobi-Quakyi said the family would hold a private service in Mills’ place of birth on Sunday in the village of Ekumfi Otuam.
But for Mills death, Ghana’s political landscape would have been electrified with presidential and parliamentary candidates touring all parts of the country on electoral campaigns.
Currently, these campaigns are on pause to give the late President a befitting burial. However, with the Electoral Commission of Ghana (ECG) insisting that Presidential and parliamentary elections will be held on December 7, 2012 and prospective run-off on December 28, the candidates will resume activities after the burial.
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