By: Jayson Schwarz LLM
My friend died. He wasn’t my closest friend but he was my friend and he was the President of Ghana. I received a call from his cousin and maybe his best friend, Frank Bo Amissah and Bo said “Jayson you must come for the funeral. The family wants you here. He was your friend” and so I went.
We left Toronto on Tuesday August 7, 2012. I went with Heather Welner, CEO of Organic Potash Corporation, a public company that is operating in Ghana.
We arrived in Accra Wednesday at 7pm and when we entered the terminal noticed the signs conveying news of the President’s death. I noticed everything was spoken in quiet and hushed, respectful tones. I noticed the signs again and how they were covered in a plea for peace on each one. The whole terminal was draped in black and red. We went to the Labadi Beach Hotel and enroute saw more signs and their message of unity and peace. At the hotel there was a true feeling of loss. The staff was not their normal happy selves. Everyone was sad yet filled with a determination I could not yet identify.
Thursday morning we it was time to go and see our friend, and pay our respects. We drove to State House and parked and watched as the Kings and Chiefs, their elders, magicians and their followers, poured past us; singing, dancing and playing drums while the Royalty moved forward with great presence and respect. The crowd parted to let them through and the queue to enter wound around and around. There was sadness found in the many thousands that came to view the President, lying in state, yet filled with a determination I could not yet identify.
In the line people spoke of the President and his love for his people and desire for their well being and mostly his desire for peace. Many commented on how all of the politicians were finally acting like gentlemen and the horrible constant name calling and back biting had somehow stopped out of respect; how the newspapers and tabloids had stopped their inflammatory rhetoric and the country had pulled together and how they hoped it would continue. As we moved forward at least 3 different news services interviewed us as we moved along and they all asked the same question; what did we think the President’s message was to his people?
I knew Professor John Evans Atta Mills and I knew his respect for the Rule of Law; I knew his respect and desire for peace and the unity of his people from all tribes and all corners of the land; I knew of his desire for Ghana to set itself on a road to economic independence and education of its people; I knew how much he loved his Country. I told the press that his legacy was the Rule of Law; the peaceful turnover of power to the Vice President, supported by all parties in accordance with the Constitution and how it was a beacon for Africa and the world. Heather Welner told the press of the Presidents great love of peace and his desire for the unity of his people and how the World was watching.
We moved into State House and there enclosed in glass was my friend. His face bore a look of serenity. The President was a man with deep belief in God and I pictured him content to be with his Maker. There was no evidence of pain rather a profound sense of peace washed over me as I moved around the dais. Many wept, many danced and chanted and many just looked and left with a feeling of love. I moved to the side and greeted the family and as always was made to feel as if I belonged.
As I left the State House the question I had earlier felt of, what was the feeling of determination became more apparent. Each person I spoke to put forward the same position; this is a time for all Ghana to be as one; a time for peace and to understand the commonality of the country and its needs and goals and to respect the memory of a man who had loved them all; a time to stop the anger.
Friday was the funeral. The funeral was a State event. Yet even then the Prof made every one of the over 100,000 that had come to Independence Square to honour him feel they were an important part of the proceedings. We arrived at 9 am and took our seats and waited 2 hours for the dignitaries to be seated and the funeral to begin. People had begun to gather at 5 in the morning. The day was hot and sunny and there was no water or refreshments available . . .yet the crowd was respectful and unified and filled with determination. 83 Nations came to pay their respects to the President of Ghana. What an international impact he had made.
The funeral continued until 3pm and was a magnificent event filled with pomp and ceremony. Remember no Ghanaian President had ever died in office before and so each step was something new. There was no protocol it had to be created and it was. Prof was a simple man but the President was given a grand farewell. The Army, the Navy, the Air force and others all played a role in honouring the Commander in Chief and taking him to his final rest. His coffin shrouded in flowers was loaded on a gun carriage and escorted to the grave site where it was lowered into a special crypt.
The streets were awash in a flood of people. Think of it, over one hundred thousand people lining the streets, like a flowing river of humanity; all respectful, all mourning, all one people.
Then it was over and everywhere you looked were signs in red and black calling for peace as a gift for his people. Professor John Evans Atta Mills was a great man, a great leader, a great friend, a great husband and a great family man and he was gone, but his call for the unity of his people and his call for peace for his people, should never be gone. I saw and heard an undercurrent of determination; that the people of Ghana want a difference. They want politicians to be courteous and respectful. They want newspapers to stop the sensationalism. They want the unity and peace the President wished for them, across party, religious and tribal lines. May those feelings persevere and forever be the legacy of the Prof.