I'm healthy - Mills

The flag bearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Professor John Evans Atta Mills, has taken exception to recent media reports about his health, claiming that he was strong enough to wage a grueling electoral battle for the December 7, 2008 elections.

Prof Mills, who yesterday was virtually on all radio networks in Accra and beyond, responding to recent concerns raised about his health, said he had been in a very difficult position explaining the issue.

With a visibly shaking voice, he kicked against the attempt to push back his health issue into public discourse, assuring his party members that his health would not impede his quest to win power for them.

"I have enough strength and determination to go through", he told Joy Fm?s Kojo Oppong Nkrumah yesterday.

He however played down reports by a popular charismatic priest that he was under spiritual attacks. "People pray for me so that the more they talk about my health, the more I receive proper spiritual attention," he stressed.

Prof Mills said he has been inundated with calls expressing worries about his health. "I have been in a very difficult position," he said.

Media reports had suggested that his trip to South Africa was to seek treat?ment for his perceived failing health. He had previously treated sinus ailment in the Southern African coun?try, after attempts in China failed owing to what he described as language barri?er.

But Prof Mills said there was nothing unusual about his trip, which he called a "multi-purpose trip", and wondered why people were making noise about it.

According to him, he was in South Africa to see friends, relatives and political contacts.

He said South Africa evokes all kinds of memories since he received treat?ment for his sinus illness, stressing that he had visited that country several times unannounced.

He said it was increasingly becoming difficult for him to see his doctors even in Ghana because of the spin always put on it. "I cannot go to a dentist in Ghana without it being misinterpreted," he agonized.

However, he said his doctors were not worried about his alarming loss of weight. "I have cut down some of the things I used to do," he stated.

The NDC flag bearer indicated that he was strong enough to carry through his campaign, pointing out that his health status should not be part of the issue.