Bishops of Ghana: Unity in wake of President’s death
(Vatican Radio) The Conference of Catholic Bishops of Ghana has appealed for prayers
and unity follwing the sudden death of President John Atta Mills. Mills took power
in 2008 after winning a presidential runoff vote by a razor-thin margin. He died Tuesday
at the age of 68. The statement reads: “We, members of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’
Conference and the entire Catholic Church in Ghana have received the sad and shocking
news of the demise of H.E. John Evans Atta Mills, the President of our dear Nation.
We wish to express our heartfelt and deepest condolences to the entire people of Ghana
as we mourn the father of our Nation. Our thoughts and prayers are with the First
Lady, Mrs Ernestina Naadu Mills, and the entire Mills’ family in this extremely difficult
time. We share the grief that afflicts our country and the family.
We call
on all Ghanaians to be united and remain focused in this hard moment. We stand in
fervent prayer asking that the God of all Mercy may grant the soul of our beloved
President eternal rest and may his soul rest in perfect peace”. Flags flew at half
mast on Wednesday as the nation began a week of national mourning for Mills whose
death comes five months ahead of elections in the country seen as a bastion of democracy
in west Africa.
Vice-President John Dramani Mahama was sworn in hours after
the announcement of the death on Tuesday. This ensured that the West African oil,
gold and cocoa producer, a former British colony once known as the Gold Coast, avoided
the kind of messy political transitions that have plagued other states in a coup-prone
region.
Mahama, 53, a historian, former minister and communications expert,
is expected to bring a steady hand to a fast-growing economy, one of Africa's newest
oil producers.