Mills’ brother stokes fresh debate

Junior brother of the late President John Evans Atta Mills claims the man was ‘very very healthy’ before his sudden death some 3 years ago, provoking fresh debates over what could have possibly caused his untimely death.

Speaking on Asempa FM’s ‘Ekosii sen’ political programme on Monday, Samuel Atta Mills stressed “the President was very, very, very healthy.”

“…This was a guy who could exercise for about two to three hours a day…” he said in an attempt to dispute suggestions that the man died of cancer or massive stroke as his other brother, Cadman Mills had earlier told Ghanaians.

Cadman said his brother died of what he termed as hemorrhagic stroke.

But Samuel Atta Mills who is contesting in the upcoming parliamentary primaries of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) said the athletic nature of his late brother, former President John Evans Atta Mills made him and the family wonder suggestions that he was not in good health at the time of his passing.

“I was there beside him in his bedroom [on the day of his death]… at the right time, I would come to clear certain things…,” he said during the interview in which he denied claims that President Mills was murdered, promising to come out to clarify issues at the right time.

President Mills was pronounced dead in the afternoon of Tuesday, July 24th, 2012 at the 37 Military Hospital after being rushed there from the then presidential palace, the Osu Castle.

His brother however declined to disclose further details about Mills’ death except to say that he prefers to keep certain things to his grave, thereby denying initial speculations that the late President Mills was rushed to the hospital in a different car rather than an ambulance.

He was however not opposed to suggestions for the setting up of a Commission to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of the late President if that could lay the controversy to rest even though he was there when an autopsy was carried out on President Mills.

Some thought he bled to death but government has since refused to state exactly what caused his death with the autopsy report still kept under wraps from the prying eyes of journalists and Ghanaians even though he was being catered for with the resources of the Ghanaian tax payer.

Others also claimed he could have died from cancer which treatment (chemotherapy) had left him with darkened palms and nasal accent which he himself claimed was due to sinusitis.