Ghanaian President Dr. John Evans Fifii Atta Mills is dead. His death was confirmed some minutes ago via a statement sent from the President’s office to international news agency Reuters.
“It is with a heavy heart…that we announce the sudden and untimely death of the president of the Republic of Ghana,” the statement said.
It said the president, 68, died a few hours after being taken ill but no further details were given.
Dr. John Evans Fifii Atta Mills (21 July 1944 – 25 July 2012) is the third and immediate past President of the Fourth Republic of Ghana. He was inaugurated on 7 January 2009, having defeated the ruling party candidate Nana Akufo-Addo in the 2008 election. He was Vice-President from 1997 to 2001 under President Jerry Rawlings, and stood unsuccessfully in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections as the candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
He is married to Ernestina Naadu Mills, an educator and has a 19 year old son, Sam Kofi Atta Mills with Ruby Addo.