There have been several comments and annotations with regard to the sudden recent death of President John Evans Atta Mills. But none has caught up with me but those of a leading member of the CPP, Prof Agyemang Badu-Akosah who said of the late President, after signing the book of condolence in his honour at the State House in Accra that he died as a result of THE CANCER OF POLITICAL HATRED just as Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah was described as having died of CANCER OF POLITICAL BETRAYAL in the 1970’s.

Of course, Prof. Akosah did not elaborate. I have been struggling hard to make a head and a tail out of his comments but alas they do not add up. Can it be deduced that Prof Akosah meant that either people around him or in the other side of the political divide or both, hated the late President so much so that he had to die. Or they saw nothing good in whatever he did to the extent that the late President thought too much about it and that stressed and strained him to his grave?

I did not understand the basis of Prof. Akosah’s annotations from the political life of President Mills as I knew him. I hold that some comments of our political leaders including those of Prof. Akosa are most of the time just gallery talks aimed at filling space to show off or to confuse the people. Prof Akosah could have held his peace after signing the book of condolence.

What he said that President Mills died of CANCER OF POLITICAL HATRED was baseless and unwarranted. Prof. Akosa just wanted to do equalization of comments said at Nkrumah’s death to score political points.

I refuse to go with Prof. Akosa. Rather, I hold that President Mills died of CANCER OF HIS OWN POLITICAL DECEIT. Mills was not fair to Ghanaians. Mills was dishonest. Mills was not truthful.

For instance, President Mills and his NDC attack dogs never accepted openly that Jerry Rawlings –Mills tutor’s- constant attacks on him (Mills) were having telling effects on him physically and mentally. When a journalist asked him last January, at the castle press confab, whether Rawlings vitriolic attacks on him were justified and had effects on him and his administration, Mills confidently and openly said that Rawlings was no pain in his neck. NDC activists thereafter went to townand castigated those, including NPP, who felt Rawlings, as Mills tutor – could not just be talking from his hat, but rather had to be taken seriously- and that his criticisms were a huge minus to Mills political management. Now at his death; 6 months later in July, it is being said that President Mills lamented daily on the constant rancorous and acerbic comments and criticisms of Jerry Rawlings to the extent that he could not even sleep well. So after all, Mills was a worried man? So he was seeing stars and nightmares out of Rawlings attacks? So Rawlings was a pain in his neck after all? So President Mills had all along been telling lies,--deceiving us? Mills was dishonest. So it is clear here that Mills died out of the cancer of his own political deceit.

Again, Mills allowed his own health condition to be politicised. Sycophantic and bootlicking NDC, whose survival depended on how close they were to Mills, politicised Mills health condition to the detriment of the man. It was such that, those who said Mills was sick were rather the liars, the bad and the ugly in the eyes of the public. In his own deceit, President Mills never had the peace of mind to rest and take proper treatment in Ghana or abroad. Cases in point were the expensively farcical, silly and comical joggings at Kotoka International Airport and the inspection on the bumpy Suhum Road by the frail and feeble President Mills. People said Mills had cancer. Mills said he did not have cancer—although it was widely known he was taking treatment reserved for cancer patients. In the end Mills died of cancer. Mills was dishonest. So it is clear here too Mills died of cancer of his own political deceit.

Furthermore, in the morning of Tuesday, July 24th 2012, when sick Mills had collapsed, the Speaker read a letter signed by the President to Parliament that he, the President, was to travel to Nigeria that day — (no reason was mentioned in the letter). Few hours later, disbelieving parliament heard that Mills had died at 37 hospital in Accra. Were his confused and wicked handlers trying to smuggle him out to Nigeria or USA for spiritual or medical treatment and they were taken unawares? The head of the Synagogue Church of All Nations, TB Joshua of Nigeria, President Mills’ spiritual father has revealed that President Mills had seen him 3 times this year in Nigeria for meditation and spiritual comfort. It is significant to note that, there are no records in Ghana’s parliament to indicate that President Mills travelled, even once, to Nigeria this year.

The conclusion is that President Mills travelled secretly to Nigeria 3 times to see TB Joshua, without informing parliament. President Mills thus violated the stipulations in the Supreme Law of Ghana, that is, the constitution of Ghana and travelled outside Ghana without reference to Parliament. The scenarios above depict clearly that President Mills cheated the electorate and thus died of the cancer of his own political deceit.

All along, according to insiders, the grand plan of Mills/NDC had been to somehow manage to get weak, unstable and unwilling President Mills elected for another term in December 2012 against all odds through the tortuous cheating, manipulations and as usual the rigging, takashie, ethnocentric tactics. If Mills should win, then he is slated to resign from office early in 2013, for Veep John Mahama to take over as President and with his appointed Vice President to consolidate themselves for 2016.

From all indications, Mills health deteriorated badly and jittery NDC panicked and feared the worst thing could happen after filing of the Presidential nomination papers with Electoral Commission for the December 2012 elections in September 2012—which of course would create constitutional crisis for NDC. It is strongly believed that there was a change in the political tactics and in reality; President Mills was abandoned to die this July to save NDC from the would-be political dilemma in the last quarter. It is not for nothing that NDC are strongly opposed to investigations into President Mills death.

In any case, there comes the time in a man’s life whereby he should take responsibility for his own actions - the adage goes. Attempts by people to put the blame of the death of President Mills on others—as Prof. Agyemang Badu-Akosa sought to do - is distasteful and unacceptable. Prof. Evans Atta Mills was an adult, a lawyer, a politician and a President. He knew what he was doing. He was responsible for his own death. He died in his own deceitful conduct--- CANCER OF HIS OWN POLITICAL DECEIT.

John Yawose