By Henry D Gombya

Ghanaian President John Atta Mills who has suddenly died at the age of only 68.

It is with great sadness that this online newspaper announces the death of Prof John Atta Mills who has been President of Ghana since 2008. Mills, who only celebrated his 68^th birthday last Saturday in Accra is said to have suddenly been taken ill complaining of pains in his throat. For some time, Prof Mills has been suffering from throat cancer and has recently been to the United States to undergo treatment.

Educated at Achimota School in Ghana and the University of Ghana, Legon (1963-1967), Mills arrived in England in 1968 and was admitted at the London School of Economics. He went to the School of Oriental and African Studies where, at the tender age of only 27, was awarded a PhD after successfully defending his doctoral thesis in taxation and economic development.

Mills’ first formal teaching assignment was as a lecturer at the Faculty of Law at the University of Ghana Legon. He spent close to twenty five years teaching at Legon and other institutions of higher learning, and rose in position from lecturer to senior lecturer to associate professor, and served on numerous boards and committees. Additionally, he traveled worldwide as a visiting lecturer and professor at educational institutions such as the LSE, and presented research papers at symposiums and conferences. In 1971, he was selected for the Fulbright Scholar program at Stanford Law School in the United States Of America.

Announcing his demise, a statement from the Ghana President’s office said: “It is with a heavy heart that we announce the sudden and untimely death of the President of the Republic of Ghana.” The statement added that Mills died a few hours after being taken ill but no further details were given.

Prof Mills leaves a wife Ernestina Naadu Mills, an educator and a son from another relationship, Sam Kofi Atta Mills.