By Hugo Odiogor, Adeleke Adeseri, Uduma Kalu and Emma  Ovuakporie
Ghanaian President John Evans Atta Mills  died of  cardiac arrest yesterday at a military hospital in Accra on the day he was scheduled to be in Abuja on a one day working visit.

Atta Mills, 68, became the president of Ghana in  2009 on the platform of  National Democratic Party which had lost the presidential election twice . He celebrated his 68th birthday last Saturday.

Reports said his death came barely one month after he returned from New York after nine days  of  routine medical check up, but worries on his state of health persisted leading to rumours in June that he had died.

A statement from the office of the President yesterday said: ‘’it is with a heavy heart that we announce the sudden and untimely  death of the president of the Republic of Ghana’’.

The Ghanian government said that late President passed on after a brief illness at 37  military hospital, Accra Ghana.Atta Mills becomes the second African president to die in power this year. Last April, President Bingu wa Mutharika of Malawi died of stroke.

Atta Mills became third president of Ghana in 2009 after losing twice. He previously served as vice president.  He was inaugurated on 7 January 2009, having defeated the ruling party candidate Nana Akufo-Addo in the 2008 election. He was Vice-President from 1997 to 2001 under President Jerry Rawlings, and stood unsuccessfully in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections as the candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

Atta Mills recently returned from a nine day medical check-up in the United States. Prior to his trip to the U.S   on June 16th, questions had been asked about the whereabouts of the president after he  was  not  seen in public for close to two weeks whilst communal violence ravaged parts of the country.

Late Attah Mills

After a successful routine medical checkup in New York, Atta Mills arrived home at about 12:45pm on Monday 25th June, 2012 to a rousing welcome.

Before his departure to the USA, President Mills quashed rumours of his death when he addressed the media. He also stated that he  was  going for a “routine check-up” and will be “away for a few days.”

President Jonathan condoles Ghana

The Nigerian Presidency was swift in reacting to the news as President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan said he “has received with shock and immense sadness news of the sudden death of President John Atta Mills of Ghana” The Nigerian President went on to say, “On behalf of himself, the government and people of Nigeria, President Jonathan extends sincere condolences to late President Mill’s family as well as the government and people of Ghana. The President assures the people of Ghana of the sympathy and solidarity of the people of Nigeria as they mourn late President Mills who did his best during his tenure to carry forward the process of democratic consolidation and socio-economic development in Ghana.”

He prayed that God Almighty will grant the late President’s soul eternal rest and bless his successor with the fortitude and wisdom he will need to keep Ghana firmly on the path of peace, stability and progress. According to President Jonathan “It is our hope and expectation that the excellent  relationship which existed between Nigeria and Ghana during President Mill’s tenure will continue to be strengthened under the new leadership in Ghana in the mutual interest of both countries”.

House of Representatives react

Nigeria’s House of Representatives yesterday described the  death of Ghanaian president Mr  Atta Mills  as a great loss not only to Ghana,but to Africa in general.

In a statement issued by the Spokesman of the House, Hon Zakari Mohammed said the  late president is an embodiment of humility and a honest and transparent leader whose  wit and wise counsels on the development of the region would be greatily missed. We in the 7th assembly while commistrating with our brothers and sisters in Ghana are consoled by the exemplary life the late politician lived and died for.similarly the  Late Mr Mills will be  missed for his politics without bitterness stand.”

Tinubu and Aregbesola commiserate with Ghana

The National Leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has sent his condolences to the government and people of the Republic of Ghana on the passing on of President John Atta Mills.

In a statement issued in Lagos yesterday, the former governor of Lagos State said: “He was a good man. A patriotic man, highly committed to the progress of his country and its people.

“He was dedicated to the ideals of democracy and the development of his country.

“President Mills lived a good life. H e has left a legacy of hard work, respect for human rights and his people’s culture.

“He will surely be missed by all.”Governor of the State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, on Tuesday described the death of the Ghanaian President John Evans Atta Mills as an irreparable loss to the African continent.

Atta Mills, Aregbesola stated, had continued the job of advancing the course of democracy in his country which had become a source of pride to West African sub-region in democratic tenets.

The Director, Bureau of Communications and Strategy in the Office of the Governor, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon, in a statement Tuesday evening, quoted Aregbesola as saying, “Africa has lost a rare gem. Atta Mills was quintessential leader who left no one in doubt over his readiness to advance the course of democracy.

Governor Aregbesola also sympathized with the entire people of Ghana praying for a worthy successor that would further ensure good governance and the development of the Black race.

Aborted visit to Abuja

But his  determination to hang on to his life and his job came to nought yesterday even as he was preparing to visit Abuja to resolve   trade issues that have created tensions between Ghana and Nigeria and at the same time, threatened the ECOWAS treaty on trade liberalisation, free movement of goods and services. His planned visit to Nigeria was  made known on the floor of Ghanaian parliament on Monday  when his letter to inform the house was read by the Speaker.

The Ghana press said the recent foreign retail trade dispute was expected to take centre stage during the discussions.   There have been reports that Ghana  is denying Nigerians entry over alleged fake yellow fever cards as some Nigerian travellers to Accra were reportedly subjected to inhuman treatment at the Kotoka International Airport, Accra, over yellow fever vaccination as all the yellow fever cards from Nigeria were presumed fake and international passports of such Nigerians seized.  The Ghanaian immigration officials got them Ghana’s yellow fever cards for N2,000 each before they got their documents back while other arrivals consisting of whites and blacks on board were ignored. Their participation in retail business in markets across the  Ghana   was said to be in violation of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, GIPC, Law, Act 478 of 1994, which reserves small-scale retail businesses for Ghanaians. The GIPC Act confers the sole right of trading in the market on Ghanaians.

More than 20 shops in and around the Central Business District of Accra were shut down on the first day. It enjoins all non-Ghanaians, including ECOWAS citizens, who wish to engage in trading there to set up businesses outside places designated as markets, invest a minimum of $300, 000 in cash or in kind, register with the GIPC, obtain immigration quota and employ at least 10 Ghanaians in the business.

Atta Mills became the third president of Ghana in 2009 when he defeated the candidate of the ruling party Nana Akufo Addo. Before then he had lost twice but he served as vice president to former President John Jerry Rawlings from 1997 to 2001.

In mid June the late president was compelled to refute rumours of his purported death when he told journalists in Accra that “Indeed, this is not the first time that I have heard people say this about me.

Let me just say that I’m very, very strong and I don’t know the basis for people saying that I am dead,” President Mills said. “You look at me as a person, are you seeing a person who has died?” The former University Professor University professor was married with  a child and  was  known to be a lover of  Hockey, swimming