DAILY GRAPHIC, Tuesday, August 28, 2012, Front & Pg.22. Methodist Varsity Cries Foul

Story: Mary Ankrah

The Methodist University College, Ghana (MUCG) has stated that qualifications of students admitted to the university have always been made known to the National Accreditation Board (NAB).

The college said its  requirements for admission to degree programmes had always been stated in applications for accreditation of programmes run by it.

A statement signed by the Registrar of the MUCG, Mr Justice Nii Aryeetey, expressed surprise at the turn of events.

The college was reacting to a recent threat by the NAB to withhold the accreditation of the school if it failed to withdraw 1,465 students admitted for the 2011/2012 academic year.

The statement explained that NAB had never, before its 2012 academic audit, queried MUCG’s entry requirements for admission to degree programmes, adding that the entry qualifications had always been stated in documents accompanying all the university applications for accreditation and re-accreditation of academic programmes.

In February, this year, the National Accreditation Board (NAB) ordered the MUCG to withdraw 1,465 unqualified students it had admitted to various degree programmes by the end of April, this year.

The order followed an audit inspection conducted by the NAB at the university which found out that some of the students who were at various levels were admitted with only proficiency certificates in Computer Studies and other courses.

Others had not attained grade C6 or less in one, two or all three of the core subjects such as Mathematics, English and Integrated Science or Social Studies in the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

Subsequently, the NAB, in June, this year, further ordered the college to suspend admissions until it adhered to the directive to withdraw 1,465 unqualified students it had admitted to pursue various degree courses.

In response to the order, the university made submissions to the NAB on the issue, prompting the Quality Assurance Committee of the board to schedule a meeting to determine the fate of the affected students.

At the end of that meeting, the board stood by its order to the university to withdraw the unqualified students by the end of April, this year.

Presenting its side of the story, the MUCG further explained that its academic programmes had been accredited, and some had even been re-accredited, and certificates of programmes accredited issued several times over.

On the contrary, it stated that the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE) and NAB minimum requirements for entry into tertiary educational institutions and requirements were essentially for Senior School Certificate Examination  and West African Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE/WASSCE) holders and did not include those of other categories of applications.

To that effect, the Conference of Heads of Private Universities (CHPUG) issued a press release in which it said it found the new admission requirement ‘unprogressive’ and called for its review.

The statement said by the time MUCG received the directives from NAB about the new requirements, the admission process for the 2011/2012 academic year had commenced.

In view of the anticipated disruption of the admission process and possible detrimental effects of the immediate implications of the directives, the MUCG observed that CHPUG requested that implementation of the new admission requirement be deferred for a year but that was not done.

It said subsequently, NAB sent a panel of academic auditors to ascertain the basis of admission of students admitted by MUCG for the 2011/2012 academic year without declaring the exact basis of what they had come to seek and the panel reported to NAB that they had found 1,465 “unqualified students” who had been admitted by MUCG.

The statement said in response, MUCG raised objection to that and pointed out that whatever the basis of the audit, it was seriously flawed as not all students admitted were school candidates.

“MUCG had in the past with implicit approval of NAB admitted students with other qualifications, in particular professional qualifications. All these were lumped together as unqualified,” it observed.

It said in the process of making every effort to bring rationality in the matter, NAB imposed sanctions, preventing the university from either advertising or admitting fresh students for the 2012/2013 academic year.

Moreover, all attempts at an amicable resolution with NAB, the college stated, proved futile, and it was only after the intervention of the Minister of Education that some concessions were agreed with all parties to the dispute which permitted holders of Higher National Diploma (HND) with deficiencies in their SSCE/ WASSCE grades to continue with their study programmes but remedy the deficiencies before graduation.

By that time, it said, MUCG had already withdrawn admission of all school candidates who did not meet the new requirement of NCTE/ NAB and students in the 1,465 identified by the audit panel who were matured students had also had their admission letters withdrawn at a time when they had completed one academic year’s work.

“Mature students had in the meantime been cleared by the University of Ghana which is our mentor institution so that those mature students identified by NAB as unqualified were in fact not unqualified,” it indicated.

Notwithstanding, the university has resorted to helping students whose admission for the 2011/2012 was withdrawn from the university, following the directives of the NAB to withdraw 1,465 unqualified students. 

It said those students who would meet the new requirement from the NAB would be re-admitted to continue where they left off.

However, students who were admitted with Diploma in Business Studies (DBS) qualification would not be re-admitted, following the new requirement by the NAB that DBS is no longer acceptable as an entry qualification for tertiary education.

Meanwhile, in the list of qualifications for admission to tertiary institutions published in the NAB websites, it stated that NCTE at its meeting of September 16, 2010, considered the criteria used by tertiary institutions for admission of SSSCE and WASSCE holders to their institutions.

It observed that some institutions based their admission criteria on the grading system of SSSCE and that the results of WASSCE were made to fit into those of the SSSCE, a practice the council considered as being unfair to many candidates.

To ensure fairness, avoid ambiguity in the admission process, and to cater for the interest of the majority of candidates, the statement said the council recommended that the SSSCE and the WASSCE results should be treated separately for admission purposes.

DAILY GRAPHIC, Friday, August 24, 2012, Pg. Centre Spread Pg. 32. GJA award winners out

Story: Mary Ankrah
The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) yesterday released the names of winners of this year’s awards.

The event is on the theme: “Giving Credence to Elections and Democratic Stability: The Role of the Media” slated for the Banquet Hall of the State House in Accra on Saturday, August 25, 2012.

Out of the 434 entries, 35 journalists and media institutions were selected for 35 categories of awards.

They include Ms Doreen Hammond, Daily Graphic; Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah, Daily Graphic; Edmund Smith-Asante, Ghana Business News; Jamila Akweley Okertchiri, Daily Guide; Albert  Futukpor, GNA; Samuel Nii Narku Dowuona, Adom Online; Rosemary Gaise, GBC Radio; John Vigah, Ghanaian Times, and Samuel Darko, Joy FM.

The rest are Suleiman Mustapha, Graphic Business; Shirley Asiedu-Addo, Daily Graphic, Portia Solomon, TV3; Geoffrey Buta, Ghanaian Times, and Francis Asamoah Tuffour, Ghanaian Times, among other winners.

The awards also include the Journalist of Year and the most promising young journalist, Human Rights (with focus on children), news reporting print, newspaper lay-out & design, sanitation and water for all, anti-corruption and oil and gas.

The rest are investigative reporting, social security (individual and media institution), agriculture, HIV & AIDS, human rights, crime and court reporting.

The applicants were assessed on their ability to demonstrate high levels of accuracy, balance, relevance and language in their writings.

The social impact of the story and its effect on society and the journalist’s initiative in developing the story beyond the assignment, were also considered.

The awards committee was also interested in journalists whose writings complied with ethical standards, safeguarded the innocent and treated sensitive issues with dignity.

The committee said successful applicants were those who wrote truthful and valid stories.

At a press conference held in Accra, the Chairman of the 11-member committee of this year’s awards, Mr Edward Ameyibor, observed that the committee received entries and nominations from journalists across the country.

There were no entries from journalists from four regions: the Brong-Ahafo, Volta, Upper East and the Upper West regions, he said.

In addition, Mr Ameyibor said 12 awards would have first and second runner-ups, adding that this was the first time the GJA was initiating such a “pilot-based” category.

However, he noted, there were a number of challenges that included packaging, labelling, categorising, sorting out and endorsement of the entries received from candidates, which delayed the work of the committee as compared to the efforts candidates made in their entries four years ago.

He, therefore, advised news editors of the various media houses to help their journalists and endorse their entries before they submit them.

Meanwhile, Newmont Ghana Limited has presented GH¢20,000, to support the awards ceremony.

Ashfoam Limited has sponsored the Best TV Journalist award with GH¢3,500, a mattress to the Best Journalist on Human Rights (with focus on children) while Plan International has contributed GH¢3,500 and Cosmoc Energy, GH¢3,000 and an Ipad.

DAILY GRAPHIC, Thursday, August 23, 2012, Pg.19. Politicians urged to make healthcare issues priority

Mr Leonard-Shang Quartey of Essential Service Platform (with the microphone ) addressing the Media. Sitting are other members of  Ghana Universal Access to Healthcare Campaign

Story: Mary Ankrah

 POLITICIANS and political parties have been urged to make healthcare issues a priority.

They have therefore been urged to incorporate ways of ensuring free access to healthcare delivery in their manifestoes for the December elections.

The Ghana Universal Access to Healthcare Campaign (GUAHC) said at a press conference held on Tuesday in Accra.

Addressing the press, Mr Leonard-Shang Quartey of Essential Service Platform observed that despite some efforts being made to improve healthcare, quality healthcare delivery across the country was not encouraging due to lack of requisite equipment, trained health personnel, discrimination against clients with NHIS cards and inadequate funding of the scheme. 

He therefore advised Ghanaians not to just listen to campaign promises but demand from political parties to show proof of how they would reform the health system when elected into office to ensure universal basic healthcare for all.

“We need to also enquire whether the health policies and programmes proposed in political parties manifestoes are realistic, achievable and would guarantee universal basic healthcare to all citizens especially the poor and vulnerable,” he stated.

He called on the electorate to vote on issues and clearly defined policies that lay out plans towards achieving universal access to quality healthcare for all Ghanaians as well as policies that stipulate clear plans for the removal of all forms of user fees and out-of pocket payments. 

The GUAHC is a civil society organisations network, including  Alliance for Reproductive Health Rights (ARHR), Isodec, Essential Service Platform, Send-Ghana and Coalition of non-governmental organisations in health advocating for free universal access to healthcare in the country. 

Mr Quartey noted that the healthcare in the country was still predominantly cash and carry affair although the introduction of the NHIS was supposed to abolish that system, pointing out that 34 per cent representing 16 million of the population were covered in the NHIS as stipulated in the 2010 annual report of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA). 

He observed that while upper and middle income earners were able to afford the NHIS premiums, the majority of the poor were unable to access basic healthcare service.

“The inequities were striking, with 20 per cent of upper wealth quintile men having NHIS cards, compared to 10 per cent of those in the lower wealth quintile. For women, the comparable percentages were 29 per cent for the top wealth quintile verses 17 per cent for the lowest wealth quintile”, he pointed out.

Still on the NHIS, Mr Quartey observed that the mandatory premium required by the NHIS for non-formal workers needed to be reviewed  and that though the scheme provided a comprehensive package of service to people with valid NHIS cards, in reality, majority of NHIS clients did not actually benefit from most of those services.

He indicated that the NHIA 2010 annual report also stipulated that contributions from annual premiums to the total inflows were less than five per cent as compared to Valued Added Tax (VAT) and Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) contributions and that the administration, operation and logistical costs of collecting the premiums were about two times the total amount generated from it, meaning that the premium based NHIS was not cost effective in its current form.

“The contribution from VAT to the NHIS funding, which is over 70 per cent, has proven that taxed based funding is efficient, effective, predictable and sustainable. Ghana should concentrate on those elements rather than the premium which we spend more resources in collection than receiving”, he recommended.

DAILY GRAPHIC, Tuesday, August 21, 2012, Center Spread Pg. 32 & 33. Ministry petition over person 65 years

Story: Mary Ankrah
The Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare (MESW) has received a petition from a number of institutions on the need to implement a pilot social pension scheme for people above 65 years.

The Deputy Minister of MESW, Mr Kwaku Antwi-Boasiako Sekyere, who made this known in Accra on Friday, said the government would examine the petition and see how best to address the issues.

 He was speaking at a ceremony at which  Help Age Ghana (HAG) presented a signature petition to the ministry.

The signature petition is an Age Demands Action (ADA) campaign which calls on countries and governments to seek the rights of older people and improve existing legal gaps to protect  those rights by initiating programmes that would help in that direction.

So far, 56,796 signatures from 118 countries of the United Nations (UN) are on the petition, that Ghana is yet to sign.

Receiving the presentation, the Mr Sekyere indicated that the Trade Union Congress  (TUC), among other institutions, has charged its ministry to pilot on social pension on older persons in the county.

He said the government was committed to ensuring the rights and well-being of older persons, hence the need to enact a National Policy for older persons, adding that the ministry would do its best to implement that policy to improve the living conditions of older persons.

He observed that Ghanaians would continue to remember the good works and contributions of older people in the development and growth of the nation.

“We acknowledge the good works of the older people, who in their youthful age contributed and toiled for the development of our nation and even in their old age make available their experiences and zealousness for the growth of the country,” he opined.

Making the presentation, the Vice-president of Help Age Ghana, Mr Edward Amejibor, said the presentation was to lobby the government to attend the Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing (OEWG) slated for August 21 to 24, 2012 at New York to discuss proposal for the promotion and protection of the rights of older people in UN member countries.

He said the government’s acceptance to attend the OEWG was a clear demonstration of it commitment to promote the general well-being of older people and commended its  for doing so.

The OEWG was created by the UN General Assembly resolution A/RES/65/182 on December 21, 2010 for the purpose of strengthening the protection of the human rights of older persons by considering their existing international framework of the human rights of the aged and identify possible gaps and solutions in addressing them.

DAILY GRAPHIC, Saturday, August 18, 2012, Pg. 28. India Marks Independence

Mr Rajinder Bhagat (left) Indian High Commissioner to Ghana Addressing a section of Indian residents at the 66th anniversary celebrations in Accra

Story: Mary Ankrah

The India Community in Ghana has marked its country’s 66th Independence Day with a call on Indians to strive to make Ghana more prosperous in the economic and social sectors.

The High Commissioner of India in Accra Mr Rajinder Bhagat, made the call when he spoke to the Daily Graphic on the sidelines of the commemoration of the 66th independence anniversary of India in Accra.

Mr Bhagat disclosed that in order to demonstrate India’s commitment to support Ghana’s economic prosperity, the Indian government would establish a fertiliser plant worth  $1.2 billion in Ghana.

Upon completion, 40 per cent of the products would be sold locally to boost agriculture while the remaining 60 per cent would be exported to India.

He said India’s commitment to Ghana’s development was evident in its provision of assistance in setting up projects through provision of lines of credit and grants to Ghana.

He said India had so far offered Ghana lines of credit totalling $265 million for various projects including the construction of the Flagstaff House, establishment of Foreign Policy Training Institute, rural electrification, supply of agricultural and irrigation equipment, among other projects.

Besides these, Mr Bhagat said, India continued to offer scholarships to Ghanaian students in diverse sectors, including electrification, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), agriculture, trade and in the steel industry to strengthen Ghana’s growth.

He disclosed that about 80 Ghanaian students had been awarded fully paid educational scholarships for the 2012/2013 academic year to study in India.

Addressing the ceremony earlier, Mr Bhagat called on members of the India Community in Ghana to continue with the struggle for a total freedom from hunger, disease and poverty in India.

That struggle, he said, should be focused on the youth to offer them the opportunity to good education in order to put the country in the status of first world.

“The young thirst for knowledge that would lift their skills, and for the opportunity that would put India on the fast track to the first world. They have the character; they need the chance.”

Mr Bhagat said despite India’s successes in the economic mainstream, there were lots of gaps that needed to be bridged, including the extension of the green revolution in the eastern part of the country; creation of high quality infrastructure, and expansion of education and health services to every citizen.

He appealed to the Indian government to ensure a violence-free country and move away from issues that threatened the stability of the country.

“We need peace for a new economic surge that eliminates the competitive causes of violence,” he stressed.

“We must learn to live in harmony with nature and since it cannot be consistent, we must be able to conserve the bounty during the many seasons of plenty so that we would not be bereft during the occasional bout of scarcity,” he advised.

There are about 1,000 Indians in Ghana some of whom have lived in the country for more than 50 years.
The day is celebrated every August 15 to commemorate India's independence from British rule and its birth as a sovereign nation on August 15, 1947.

India achieved independence following the Indian independence movement noted for largely peaceful non-violent resistance and civil disobedience led by the Indian National Congress.

DAILY GRAPHIC, Friday, August 17, 2012, Pg.28. Accra hosts Young Christian Workers summit

The Metropolitan Archbishop of the Accra, Most Rev Gabriel Charles Palmer-Buckle addressing the youth at the opening ceremony of the 13th International Young Christian Workers (IYCW) council summit last Saturday in Accra.

Story: Mary Ankrah

 A two-weeks summit of  the International Young Christian Workers (IYCW) council which has  the theme: “Young Workers as Actors of Change”, has opened in Accra.

The meeting will review and discuss how to strengthen the IYCW’s  social protection campaign which focuses on just work, decent living, gender equity and quality education for all young workers. 

It has attracted YCW members from across the world, including the US, Germany, Brazil, Indonesia, Philippines, Japan, India, Egypt, Gambia, Benin and Ghana.

Addresssing the participants at the opening ceremony, the Metropolitan Archbishop of the Accra Diocese,Most Rev Gabriel Charles Palmer-Buckle, stated that the youth were the treasures of their country because they constitute a large proportion of the world’s population.

He observed that the youth were important in the society, and therefore they must be encouraged to make an impact in society.

Most Rev Palmer-Buckle also exhorted  the youth to channel their energies into productive activities such as sports, information technology, active labour force, education, among others.

In addition , he said, they could make the world a better place, through their vitality to engage in activities; their creativeness to invent new things; their idealism to dream of how to better the world, and their passion to be perfect.

Touching on the rationale for the summit, the International President of IYCW, Ms Geethani Peries, indicated that the recent report from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) showed that youth unemployment had increased by four million globally between 2007 and 2011.

The huge increase, she said, was pervasive in Spain, Greece, Portugal, Italy, Ireland and in developing countries where conditions of young workers were even more harsh.

According to her, the trickle effect of the global financial crisis also impacted on young workers more than any other group in society because they were “often at the bottom of the rung “ and so they needed protection.

“We must take up the cause of young workers, we must ask, why not? We must continue the struggle to improve our working conditions, fight for the dignity of each young worker and also be actors of change”, she opined.

She was optimistic that the summit would enable the members to develop the needed solidarity and support the campaign to fight for improved working conditions of young people in the world.

For his part, the President of YCW in Ghana, Mr Apiining Lucas, observed that the objective of the movement to organise young workers across the globe to fight for change in their living conditions would enable the government to have an insight into some of the problems the youth face in terms of employment and seek redress to make them contribute meaningfully to the development the country.

The International Young Christian Workers (IYCW) members in a group photograph with the Metropolitan Archbishop of the Accra, Most Rev Gabriel Charles Palmer-Buckle at the 13th International Young Christian Workers (IYCW) council summit last Saturday in Accra.

DAILY GRAPHIC, Wednesday, August 15, 2012, Pg. 64. Ivorian students must take studies seriously

Story: Mary Ankrah

 IVORIAN students residing in Ghana have been admonished to show dedication in their studies in order to meet the standards of employment in Ghana.

They have also been advised not to use violent means in their efforts to make it in life but rather believe they could make it through hard work.

The Chairman of the Community of Ivorians in Ghana (CIGHA), Mr Brou Ahoua, gave this advice at the third edition of the CIGHA Career Fair 2012 (last Saturday) in Accra.

It was on the theme: “Tips and Methods Towards a Successful Guidance”.

The career fair was to provide the necessary information to Ivorian students in Ghana to enable them to choose the best career, accredited academic institutions, as well as grant them the opportunity to interact with the representatives of those institutions.

It was also to serve as an exchange platform to help Anglophones, Francophones and particularly workers and graduates to enjoy the range of employment opportunities, develop contact network between professionals and students so that they would understand the corporate needs of companies and training institutions in the country.

Speaking at the career fair, Mr Ahoua said the fair was to equally create a forum for sharing and exchanging ideas and experiences among Ivorians and between Ivorians and Ghanaians; create a consultative body that would promote Ivorian social and cultural activities in Ghana, and foster creativity and develop entrepreneurship.

“We hoped to build the capacities of members, train and develop our youth and contribute to consolidating the long standing friendly ties between Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana”, he added. 

In her presentation on the topic, “Integrating into the Labour Market after Training”, the Executive Director of Iiom-West Africa, Ms Mercy Mintah Gyampoh, said there was the need for students to understand that getting employed after school took effort.

Ms Gyampoh enumerated that some of the factors that had led to unemployment in the country included lack of employable skills, growth in population, the lack of understanding of employment by graduates, and the enormous differential between job creation and the students that graduate from the universities.

More so, she disclosed that unemployment rate in Ghana as at September 2008 was 3.6% and therefore students needed to develop their skills well in order to access the corporate ladder. She said they could do that  through the three E’s, namely, education, exposure and experience.

“You need discipline and strategy to succeed in integrating into the job market after training.It starts now”, she advised the students.

JUINOR GRAPHIC, August 15-21, Pg. 23. Esinam is Miss Adisec



1st runner-up, Agnes Agbanwo(left), EsinamTetteh (Middle)
and the second runner-up, Diana Nuwurdu

 Story: Mary Ankrah-Adidome-Volta Region

A TWENTY-ONE year old student of the Adidome Senior High School (Adisec), EsinamTetteh has been crowned Miss Adisec at a pageant show held by the school in the Volta region.

The form three-year student dazzled the audience with her eloquence and stage performance using plastics to mould a bag in the first edition of Miss Adisec in the school during the last entertainment session. 

The pageant show tagged: “Sanitation the Basis of our Health” was to give opportunity to the young ladies to exhibit their leadership potentials and make informed decisions on improving the sanitation of the school and its environment.

Miss Tetteh received a cash prize and some other items while the first runner-up, Agnes Agbanwo, a form one year student and the second runner-up, Diana Nuwurdu, a form two year student were also appreciated.

In addition, Miss Tetteh was made the school’s Sanitation Ambassador of which she would campaign to improve the sanitation situation in the school and its environ for a year.

The contestants were a total of 14 and screened to eight who contested at the finals and they were groomed for two weeks. 

They were also given two tasks to perform before the final day, fund raising to support Adidome Hospital and a cooking contest. 

All the eight finalists proved themselves worthy of the crown. They gave out spectacular performances such as catwalks and modelling, talent exhibitions and presentation on improving sanitation in the school as well as its environ.

Speaking at the show, the Headmaster of the school, Mr E. K Avor said the show would help reveal some of the good skills and talents in the students and that the school would put in place measures to promote that course. 

“Aside the tuition and extra curriculum activities, we hoped the pageant would enhance the potentials of students”, he said.

DAILY GRAPHIC, Wednesday, August 15, 2012, Back Page. Land, Space starts estate project at Danfra

Some of the samples of the estate houses to be constructed.

Story: Mary Ankrah
Land Space Properties, a real estate developing company, has cut the sod to commence a housing project at Danfa near Aryee Mensah on the Accra-Aburi road to provide affordable houses to Ghanaians.

The project, known as, “Holy Cross Apartment,” is expected to help reduce the housing deficit of 1.2 million in the country, as well as offer employment to hundreds of artisans in the construction industry.

Speaking to the Daily Graphic after the sod-cutting ceremony in Accra on Monday, the Project Manager of the company, Mr Vadis Norman, said the apartment concept was to promote communal values and coexistence among people.

The move, he observed, would help maximise space utilisation and ensure a healthy environment, adding that “a large inside compound would provide security and playground for children”.

Mr Norman indicated that each block would comprise two to four-bedroom self-contained units and 100 apartment buildings would be constructed.

He gave an assurance that the facilities at the site would include schools, a police post, and a mini-shopping mall, among others, to make life comfortable to occupants and residents.

“Apartment living is less cumbersome and so the company would offer about 100 per cent guarantee security and provide recreational areas,” he added.

As to the prices, he said “a two-bedroom  apartment and outhouse self-contained would cost about $39,000 and that when completed the affordable houses would be delivered to institutional buyers, mortgage companies and the general public.

 Mr Norman disclosed that Land and Space Properties was raising long-term capital from internal and external sources to support the project.

He, therefore, appealed to the government to use various instruments, including the issuance of bonds, to support the development of the housing sector.

The project manager also noted that the country needed a housing policy to be acceptable by all stakeholders and added that housing should be embodied in poverty alleviation programmes and be a bench mark for social equality.

Cutting the sod, the Executive Secretary of Ghana Real Estate Developers Association (GREDA), Mr Emmanuel Asamoah commended Land and Space for the initiative, adding that it would help provide the needed affordable accommodation for many low income Ghanaians.

DAILY GRAPHIC, Monday, August 13, 2012, Pg.7. Marking his Death



Late President John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills

 By: Mary Ankrah

The day he died
THE passing of Prof. Mills on Tuesday, July 24, 2012, or on ‘Black Tuesday’ as some call it, left Ghanaians in a state of shock till date.

Daily Graphic reporters in town that day observed that the atmosphere was calm, the streets were quiet, and most people were seen discussing the sudden passing away of Prof. Mills.

 “If we had the power, we would have reversed the hand of death from touching him, but all the same, God is the controller of human life”, Bright Einstem, a passer-by on Graphic road, said. 

He said he was disappointed and sad about the President’s demise but would console himself with the legacy that the President had left with Ghanaians.

“It has come as a complete shock to all Ghanaians, we have lost a great academia  and leader”, a former President of the Ghana Bar Association, Nii Osah Mills, said with sadness in his voice.
He advised Ghanaians to be  courageous and learn to unify, and then expressed the family his condolence.

A day after the late President’s demise
A day after his death, most Ghanaians were still shocked and devastated: their mood was written all over their faces.

Although businesses went on as usual, traders complained business was slow and dull, attributing it to the sudden news about the death of the President.

Madam Rebecca Authur, a tomato seller, said if the death hadn’t occurred, trading would have been better for her.

Madam Authur, who had folded her arms in her cloth, said she was so hurt and felt sad on hearing  of the death of the President because she loved him.

One week funeral rites
The the principal streets across the country were busy, colourful and loud with activities; contrary to the expected solemness that usually characterises the traditional observance of the seventh day after a death occurs.

At the Kwame Nkrumah Circle, the  observation was marked at the Odorna market with dancing to the sound of music and dirges by sympathisers adorned in red and black dresses and red arm bands.

While hawkers moved around, others danced to mark the one week.The atmosphere was noisy with lots of screaming from traders, hawkers and horns of vehicles amidst dancing to the tune of music and dirges being played along the streets. Certain people also mounted canopies with sound systems in front of their houses and shops.

Four minutes before 2:15 p.m., the time for the observance of a minute’s silence for the late President, drivers started hooting their horns to alert people that the time was near.

Observing the minute’s silence, the traders and hawkers stood still to sing the National Anthem and said the National Pledge after which they screamed around for some few minutes.

A trader at Odorna market , Felix Amoah, said though he was sad and mourning, he could feel some kind of unity among Ghanaians and noted that the late President’s death was indeed a sacrifice to unite the country.

What people say about President Mills
The President has won admirable and laudable tributes. He is described as a peacemaker, gentle, humble, honest and simple. Interestingly, giant billboards with inscriptions such as, “Man of Peace Rest In Peace”, and “Asomdwehene Rest In Peace”, were erected across the country, while entrances of shops, companies and organisations were decorated with black and red banners bearing portraits of late President Mills.

World leaders, organisations, institutions, chiefs and individuals also sent messages of condolence to the government and people of Ghana with the underlying messages stating that President Mills was a champion of democracy and a man of peace.

While the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, described President Mills as a statesman and a real African leader who wanted the best for all, US President, Barack Obama, hailed him as a "good leader who worked tirelessly to improve the lives of the Ghanaian people in the midst of challenging global circumstances”, and Liberia's President, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, said, on a personal level, Mills’s moderation and integrity stood out.

Prof. John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills, “Wo Ojogbaa”!!!(Rest In Peace)