President Mills Dedicated Himself To Serving Ordinary Ghanaians - May His Soul Rest In Peace

Like most Ghanians I was shocked and saddened when told President Mills had passed away. And, as is the case with Ghanaians everywhere, at this trying time, my thoughts are with his widow,  Dr. Naadu Mills, our former First Lady, and the extended families of our former first couple.


In time, history will come to judge President Mills as an honest and decent man, who though not a strong leader in the classic African sense, dedicated himself to serving ordinary people and the  country he loved.


Despite being   handicapped by a terminal illness that dogged him throughout his tenure, he worked tirelessly to make Ghanaian democracy work.


Few Ghanaians understood his refusal to interfere with the work of the other arms  of government and the institutions under them - and even that became a reason for abuse being heaped upon him. The famous "....not a policeman..." statement being an example.


And the shabby treatment he received from his political opponents, who used character assassination as a political weapon to destroy him, marked a new low in Ghanaian politics.


It is unfortunate that  an African leader,  who turned down an opportunity to enrich himself, by declining an offered  secret deal from   corrupt  foreign oil company executives,  was somehow  made out to be a corrupt politician,  by his  political opponents - lesser men  (and their female colleagues) who themselves would never have turned down such a bribe from respectable-looking  crooked-foreigners  running an American oil company with interests in Ghana.


Despite all the accusations and insults, President Mills was a decent and honest man. His tragedy,  was that he was used by those he relied on in his own  party for their own selfish ends -  and deliberately insulted  on  a daily basis by ruthless, sly and dishonest rogues:  who felt that  destroying his credibility  was essential, if they were  to dislodge  Mills and his party from power in the December 2012 presidential election.


Perhaps President Mills should have thought of himself first,  and resigned from office on health grounds,  long ago - but he was unable to do so because he had decided to dedicate himself to serving  ordinary Ghanaians. May his soul rest in peace.


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Email: peakofi.thompson@gmail.com