NDC kept “unfit Mills” at the Castle for personal interests – Prof. Frimpong Boateng

A former CEO of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Prof. Kwambena Frimpong Boateng is claiming that late president Mills was impelled to stay in office although he had been debilitated by ill-health.

In comments that are set to reignite the debates over the circumstances leading to death of president John Mills, the heart surgeon surmised that some individuals in government, in furtherance of their parochial interests, compelled the President to continue to occupy the Presidency even against his wish.

The Third President of Ghana's Fourth Republic, John Evans Atta Mills, died on July 24, 2012 at the 37 Military hospital, Accra, after “he suffered massive stroke.”

Several concerns were raised about the health of the president but his close associates repeatedly dismissed any suggestions that the 68-year-old law professor was ill.

The exact circumstances of his death have remained matters of intense speculation at best and a mystery at worst.

Speaking on Joy FM's Super Morning Show, Thursday, January 30, 2013, the former Director of the National Cardiothoracic Centre said, even though the late Ghanaian leader showed strong conviction to rule the country, he was limited by his physical state.

Refusing to name persons in government who used the president to further their personal interest, the former NPP flagbearer hopeful said: “…if he (Mills) had the strength of mind, character as I’m saying, I think he would have done a good job but…he had serious limitations.”

“I didn’t need anybody to tell me [that Mills was unfit], you only had to watch him to know that there was something wrong…Of course I observed many things.”

Eulogising the late president, Prof. Boateng said, then Vice President Mills, in 2000 encouraged him to stay at post as head of the Cardio Centre, after he [Frimpong Boateng] had gone to the Castle (the seat of government) to submit his resignation letter to President Jerry Rawlings.

Ghana’s renowned heart surgeon said, as Vice President, Prof. Mills “was in charge, vibrant and sharp; you could not go to him to tell him stories…but when he became President, his Vice President was more or less the de facto President of Ghana”.

“…and that saddens me because I knew that if he [Prof. Mills] had that strength, we would have seen a good Ghana,” Prof. Frimpong Boateng emphasized.