Opinions of Tuesday, 25 July 2017

Columnist: K. Badu

Several years of incertitude over the cause of President Mills demise

Late Prof John Evans Atta Mills Late Prof John Evans Atta Mills

I am afraid, the apparent malicious gossips surrounding the mysterious death of President Mills will linger on, so long as the cause of death has been kept away from the good people of Ghana.

I will, however, venture to suggest that we solemnly invoke our instinct for tact and diplomacy and keep empathising with the late Mills family for their never ending pain over the unfortunate death, while we venture to pin together the apparent straddled jigsaw.

I was extremely depressed in spirits after listening to the son of the late Mills, Mr Sam Kofi Mills, who poured his heart out in a recent brief video about the secrecy surrounding the cause of the late Mills death.

I must admit, though, it is somewhat dreary and unfortunate to keep visiting the sudden and bizarre death of former President Mills.

But then again, it benefits no one, when we all keep quiet whilst the NDC apparatchiks are claiming perquisite to righteousness over the sudden demise of President Mills.

To be quite honest, the late Mills family don’t have to endure all the political inebriations and insobrieties over their departed loved one.

But then again, it would be a worthwhile if the good people of Ghana knew what actually happened to former President Mills on that fateful day.

I ask: What are they hiding from the good people of Ghana?

It would be recalled that on Wednesday 14 September 2016, whilst addressing voters at Cape Coast, the PPP presidential candidate in the 2016 election, Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom, had this to say: “the NDC cannot pretend to be sad about the death of the president and at the same time jubilate over something they said was the reason why they won the 2012 elections” (See: ‘NDC leaders jubilated over Mills death’-Nduom; myjoyonline.com, 15/09/2016).

Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom lamented: “Mills was our kinsman and he became the president”. “Some people criticized and attacked him until he died”.

Unsurprisingly, however, subsequent to Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom’s candid pronouncement, he was virulently attacked by the NDC apparatchiks, most notably, the NDC National organiser, Kofi Adams and the Central Regional chairman of the party, Allotey Jacobs.

Unfortunately, Kofi Adams went berserk and replied discourteously: “there is something fundamentally and intellectually wrong with Dr Nduom to go out there and be saying some of these things he is reported to have”. “How on earth will you be happy over someone’s death” (See: ‘Something is wrong with Nduom’-Kofi Adams; ultimatefmonline.com/ghanaweb.com, 16/09/2016).

Allotey Jacobs also proceeded angrily: “I am very disappointed in Papa Kwesi Nduom for those remarks made against Mills and the NDC”. “If he continues with those childish remarks, we will chase him out from the region” (See: ‘I will chase Nduom out of Central Region’-Jacobs; adomonline.com/ghanaweb.com, 16/09/2016).

Allotey Jacobs further retorted angrily: “Papa [Kwesi Nduom] should apologize to the NDC and the people of the Central Region because we think he is making fun of us else the people of Central Region will not accept him”.

It would however appear that both Kofi Adams and Allotey Jacobs need help with their apparent dementia, or selective amnesia.

For if that was not the case, Kofi Adams and Allotey Jacobs would have recalled that, their party founder J. J. Rawlings, had previously claimed that the death of President John Mills in 2012 was a life saver for the ruling National Democratic Congress (See- ’Rawlings: ‘Mills’ death saved NDC’ ; starrfmonline.com, 18/03/2016).

The fact of the matter is that Papa Kwesi Nduom was rightly reiterating how the late Mills was vilified by his own party members.

Take, for instance, back then, the disgruntled people like Kofi Adams and his minions formed an opposition group called ‘Friends of Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings (FONKAR) with a view to unsettling President Mills and his government.

Indeed, Kofi Adam’s and the other contumacious members of FONKAR stuck to their guns and needlessly vilified the late Mills until his unfortunate death.

Do you remember Kofi Adam’s secret tape in which he vowed to unsettle former President Mills until he (Mills) loses the presidency?

Papa Kwesi Nduom continued: “And some of the NDC people themselves thanked God that Mills died, is that not strange?” “And after his death they came back here to tell us to replace him with another person from the Central region".

I couldn’t agree more with Papa Kwesi Nduom on this one. Indeed, it would appear that the NDC apparatchiks benefited from the sudden death of President Mills.

Ex-President Mahama for instance, strangely pronounced after the unfortunate death of President Mills: “God in his own wisdom has taken the old man, Professor Mills away to pave the way for youthful Mahama to take over the mantle”.

“Speaking to GHONE’s Nana Aba Anamoah in an exclusive interview, Mr Rawlings said the NDC was in a terrible state under the Professor”.

“If God hadn’t invited him, and I am saying it again; NDC would have been in opposition in 2012”.

“It was terrible, the climate was really bad for us; we all knew about it, we were just keeping quiet”. “It was his departure that gave NDC a saving grace,” he stated.

Isn’t it therefore ironic that people like Kofi Adams and Allotey Jacobs would turn a blind eye to their party founder’s chilling revelation over their jubilations on former President Mills death, but would rather choose to attack Papa Kwesi Nduom , whose only crime was to stand on the shoulders of the NDC Party insiders like Rawlings to expand on the arguments surrounding the bizarre death of the late Mills?

As a matter of fact, any reflective thinker like Papa Kwesi Nduom will no doubt infer from the NDC founder’s claims that you lots were happy to see the late Mills go.

If we engage in deductive reasoning on former President Rawlings’s apparent chilling revelations, the inference we could draw is that the NDC apparatchiks were happy over the late mills death.

For if nothing at all, former President Rawlings boldly asserted that all the NDC apparatchiks were extremely worried over the late Mills fitness and did not have any hope whatsoever on his chances of securing a second term in office.

“In the view of former President John Rawlings, the NDC would have been languishing in opposition if the professor had not died”.

Interestingly, however, back then, a lot of NDC executives supported former President Rawlings’s sensational revelations on the late mills fitness and their concerns about his chances of securing a second term in office.

Take, for example, the embattled Eastern Regional Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Bismark Tawiah Boateng, claimed that his party made a 'mistake' by presenting the late John Evans Atta Mills for the 2008 elections (See: ‘Mills was a mistake president’-NDC chairman; ghanaweb.com/adomonline.com, 19/10/2015).

“According to him, the party knew very well that the late President, who died some months to the 2012 general elections, was ill and could not perform the hefty task required of a President but yet presented him just to win power”.

“Sometimes, I wonder why Mills became the president because it was a total mistake allowing him to run for president and subsequently dying because of ill health...," he said.

In sum, the good people of Ghana have every right to know all the facts about former President Mills death, until then, we will keep dissecting the vineyard news on the late Mills untimely departure.