The bust honoring the late President John Evans Atta Mills was erected, and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Parliamentary Minority Caucus has requested President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to ensure that it bears his name.
Speaking to the Parliamentary Press Corps in Accra, Mr. Haruna Iddrisu, the Minority Leader, expressed disappointment that the bust, which was commissioned by the President on Sunday, July 24, to mark the 10th anniversary of the late President’s passing, did not bear his name.
“One of our most esteemed leaders and the third President of the Fourth Republic, Professor JEA Mills, passed away 10 years ago yesterday. May he rest in eternal peace.
Ten years later, a variety of things happened in his memory, Mr. Iddrisu added.
“He was a dedicated public servant who served this country honorably and responsibly; he is gone with his modesty and humility; he is gone with his unmatched honesty and incorruptibility.”
While the Minority calls on Ghanaians, including those in public life, to follow Mills’ lead, he stated that “he didn’t run a long convoy of 30, 20, 57 wasteful vehicles and wasteful fuel in the name of the Republic” and added that “he didn’t run a long convoy of his punctuality and additionally, his austerity in terms of protecting the public purse.”
He pleaded with the President and his allies, including Mr. Koku Anyidoho, to act morally and appropriately.
He also emphasized the institutional nature of the late President’s office, which goes beyond John Evans Atta Mills’ character.
“Therefore, we shall produce former presidents of our Republic as long as our democracy exists. But we want to honor his name because we believe that God has already done so and because he deserves it, Mr. Mahama remarked.
He pointed out that President Kwame Nkrumah’s statue at the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum bears his name, birth year (1909), and death year (1972), and that late President Mills’ bust ought also do the same.
We found that to be incredibly unacceptable and offensive. “If you go to that of John Evans Atta Mills, our respected (late) President, beneath the bust is not his name, it is that unveiled by Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, that is not Professor Mills’ name,” Mr. Iddrisu said.
Then, references are made to Koku Anyidoho helping the President of the Republic unveil the statue.
The third President of the fourth republic and a man who died while serving Ghana in the public sector, John Evans Atta Mills, must be identified on the bust, he insisted, if it is to honor the late President’s legacy forever.
The late President Mills, according to Mr. Iddrisu, was a man of peace who preached peace and from whom he (Mr. Iddrisu) learned peace.
People must be aware that the late John Evans Atta Mills, the nation’s president who passed away in office, is buried there when they visit the Asomdwe Park, he said. “This bust is placed in honor of his eternal memory,” he added.
The person who unveiled it, sponsored it, or provided support is shown just beneath the bust, but his name is not there. How can anyone here explain that?”
He claimed that “in any case, I never even saw Prof Mills in that kind of brown apparel,” saying that “for the unknowing folks anybody might go to the Asomdwe Park and then the picture (bust) would be to referred to as unveiled by.”
He asserted that late President Mills embodied modesty and humility, and that Ghanaians would do well to remember him in death.
If he is resting in peace, are those of you who attend church and sing the Methodist hymn “rest in peace”? We wish for him peaceful death. He merits tranquility.
GNA