Why has Atta Mills made his own Health a Campaign Issue?

Says Ghana cannot treat Sinus, could not communicate in China, has a diet plan, fitter at 62 than at 52, lies upon lies........

“The Korle Bu Teaching Hospital does not have the necessary modern healthcare equipment to treat common Sinusitis (or SINUS) - just a nasal problem”. This was a statement made by a former senior government official in defence of why he had to travel to China to seek medical help. Professor Mills, who was once the number two most powerful man in Ghana made this unfortunate statement about Ghana’s health system to win political points when he realised that his very health was becoming a campaign issue.

Why I went to China Professor Mills says he sought medical help in China because his common Sinus problem could not be treated anywhere in Ghana. But is this a true statement from the man who goes about preaching truth? Is it true that there is no treatment for Sinusitis in Ghana? Think of the fact that Professor Mills is a past vice president and therefore is entitled to receiving the best medical care from the best doctors in the country at government expense. Our medical experts will bear me out that even ordinary Ghanaians have been receiving good care for Sinus-related problems. There are two things to consider here. Either it is true that Ghana does not have the necessary tools to treat Sinus or Prof Mills is lying about the sickness he is suffering from. The former is obviously not a likelihood. Professor Mills must have travelled to China for a sickness much more serious than just Sinus. But since the professor is preaching truth, Ghanaians expect him to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Professor Mills must come out to apologise to our health officials for having made a false statement, or better still, come out to say that he is suffering from an illness more chronic than just a common nasal problem.

Why I moved from China to South Africa Professor Mills claims that he left China for South Africa because of language problems. This excuse is too flimsy to be true. What language problem is this professor talking about? Is the professor saying that if he cannot speak Chinese, nobody else can speak English in China? Hellooooo, Prof!!!!! You visited China when you were vice president. Can you tell us how you communicated with the people of China? The president of Ghana has recently visited China with a whole entourage, and the good news is they were able to communicate even in business and bi-lateral terms. Professor Mills should not talk as if he is talking to kids. If language was a problem how did Mills manage, in the first place, to secure an appointment from the said Chinese medical centre? Instead of telling the truth that Chinese medical experts specifically referred him to South Africa due to the seriousness of the problem, the truth-preaching professor is telling a very hollow lie. Unless he is suffering from anything other than common Sinus, the professor cannot tell us that both Ghanaian and Chinese doctors could not treat his kind of Sinus. It is incumbent upon the professor to tell the truth about what is actually wrong with him, since he is seeking the highest office of the land, and stop telling one lie after the other.

My stay in South Africa The professor stayed in a hospital in South Africa for almost four months to treat a common nasal problem. Is this a story the well-respected professor wants Ghanaians to believe? For the period that Mills stayed in South Africa he was under intensive care. Can our medical experts please tell us if the treatment of a common Sinus desease will require that someone stays under intensive care for four months? This is obviously against medical logic.

Please Prof, you are certainly hiding something from Ghanaians and you better let the cat out of the bag before this issue turns out to be a disgrace for you. NDC members and national delegates are concerned and worried that if the truth does not come out now and he (Mills) becomes the party’s flagbearer they will lose to the NPP due to an ineffective campaign run by a sick man.

Truth is very expensive but Mills is making it very cheap by his utterances. When he returned from South Africa he actually denied having gone for medical treatment. He said he went on a normal holiday trip to South Africa, but whiles there he took the opportunity to treat a minor Sinus problem. Now he has come out to admit that he actually travelled for health reasons. Why is this man throwing dust into everybody’s eyes? What is the truth about his health now? Did he go around the world seeking treatment for a serious ailment and refusing to tell us the truth? Is he suffering from a disease other than Sinus and is lying about it?

The Special Professor Mills Diet Plan Those who saw Mills on his return from South Africa were shocked how the prof had lost weight to the extent that one had to look at him twice to be able to recognise him. When he was questioned about the drastic loss of weight Mills said he was on a special diet plan. What diet plan could have made this man lose so much weight in three months that he was not recognisable? Hmmmm! this is the story of a man seeking the highest office by asking people to tell the truth. But if Mills has such a good diet plan, I would recommend that he teams up with the country’s dieticians to promote the Atta Mills diet plan. This way we will be able to solve the problems of obesity and overweight in Ghana. In fact if the professor possesses such a successful diet plan then we could package it nicely and sell it to the western market where there is very high demand for such successful plans. This way I believe the NDC, which lacks adequate resources, can make a fortune out of it to push the party’s bid for power in 2008.

One lie leads to the other - Hurting the NDC’s Chances As learned as he is, Atta Mills should know that once you tell a lie you always have to lie to defend it. That is exactly what is happening to him now. In order to defend the lies he has told, the respectable professor keeps heaping up lies about his own health. He has even said that he is fitter now than he was ten years ago. But is it biologically, medically, physically and naturally true that a man is fitter at 62 than he was at 52? Is this not an absolute lie coming from a desperate politician trying to prove the non-existent? Does Mills realise the harm he is doing to himself and the NDC?

In fact at this moment he has only one chance to redeem himself from the entanglement. He has to come out and tell the truth about his health. Mills must tell Ghanaians why he travelled to China and South Africa. He should drop the Sinus lie because it has not worked to his advantage. It has only hurt him and the NDC, and has made his health a campaign issue. What is wrong with your health prof? You may be suffering from some form of Sinus but that is not the reason you sought medical help outside. Ghanaians deserve the truth and you are the best person to tell the truth about your own health. You have made your health a campaign issue.

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