Samuel Kofi Atta Mills
Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com
By William Yaw Owusu
Accra, Saturday November 19, 2012.
Samuel Kofi Atta Mills, the only son of the late
President John Evans Atta Mills has told the BBC that he would not rule out
entering into politics in Ghana in the near future.
He also revealed that he had a great relationship
with both his father and step-mother, Ernestina Naadu Mills.
He said his deceased father once told him that he
(Mills) had paved a “very big way” for him (in politics) and he could
“continue” if he (Samuel) wanted.
Asked by Matthew Bannister
on BBC Outlook if he had any Presidential ambitions, Samuel laughed
and said “I once asked him (Mills) like what
does he think of me going into politics and he said ‘if you want to go it is up
to you. It is your own determination. I have paved a very big way and you can
continue if you want’.”
He added: “But if it comes….if the Lord says ‘this
is your time and this is what I want you to do’ then yes I will go for it but
for now I think I will just focus on my studies and leave it to the best of my
own abilities.”
He recounted how he heard about the death of his
father saying “It was a bit terrible because I was just talking to the man in
the morning.”
“I was actually in the house. I had gone upstairs
to wake him up and he was like ‘Not today…I just want to rest’… I went back to
my room.
“The
ambulance came, I just thought he just needed to go because whenever he was
leaving there was a set of convoy and an ambulance and so I thought it was just
normal and stuff. So I was quiet shocked to have got a phone call and then I
was told to go and meet a certain individual so I went there and he said to me
that he is gone... he passed away, I said how,” he said.
He said even though it was difficult for him, he
did not find it difficult to deal with the situation because “I was very happy
about the way Ghanaians mourned.”
“The sympathy was there. The taxi drivers, all the
vehicles had red bands. The way the other political parties came together….I
was really happy to know that my father who was father of the whole country had
actually brought this dawn of peace on Ghana and it was always something that I
was really proud of.”
Asked if he had the kind of private moment to say
good bye to his father, Samuel said “Oh yes, I did. I mean we went filing past
the body and the day of the burial I was given opportunity to spend some time
with him and say final greetings and stuff. I was given the opportunity and I
really took advantage of it as well.”
On whether the late President neglected him as son
he said “You see, this is what politics brings about. When I was there people
were still writing articles that I was living in the UK and I am on the streets
of London, I beg for money and I have dropped out of school. Meanwhile I was
living and sleeping in the same place with him.”
He said it was not true that he was not in a good
relationship with former First Lady Ernestina Naadu Mills, his step-mother.
“That is another one (untruth) I love my step-mum.
She is a mother…..she was there for my father and I respect her greatly,” he
said.
Samuel said “I am very very proud of my dad. He is
my biggest inspiration. Even up till now sometimes I go to Google, type his
name and listen to some of the things he says, how he says it and he is so
incredible.
“We communicated regularly because obviously, he wanted to know how I
was coping and I ring him up all the time to ask ‘how are you dad, how is your
job, how is Ghana doing’ and stuff like that,” he explained.
He added: “I went to Ghana for a year and I had the privilege to live with him in the Castle [seat of government]. I was there for quite a while. It was a big experience.”
Samuel described his father as a man who believed in giving everyone equal opportunity “so just because he was the President, he wouldn’t allow people to treat me different. 5 am in the morning, we would wake up and go for a walk from the Castle to the Independence [Square] so that he could get some fresh air and exercise.”
“Everyone took their shower, we had morning devotion from six to seven and whatever problems I was facing, I could tell him and whatever he thought was good, he would talk about it.”
He added: “I went to Ghana for a year and I had the privilege to live with him in the Castle [seat of government]. I was there for quite a while. It was a big experience.”
Samuel described his father as a man who believed in giving everyone equal opportunity “so just because he was the President, he wouldn’t allow people to treat me different. 5 am in the morning, we would wake up and go for a walk from the Castle to the Independence [Square] so that he could get some fresh air and exercise.”
“Everyone took their shower, we had morning devotion from six to seven and whatever problems I was facing, I could tell him and whatever he thought was good, he would talk about it.”
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