President John Dramani Mahama has pledged to restore the late Professor John Evans Atta Mills Memorial Library to its former glory, assuring that efforts are underway to renovate the facility, which has fallen into disrepair.
He made this commitment during the wreath-laying ceremony at Asomdwee Park, marking the 13th anniversary of the passing of the late President Mills.
In his address, President Mahama said, “Kofi Totobi Quakyi has been involved with the library since its inception. After we left office, it was handed over to the University of Cape Coast.”
However, he assured Ghanaians that “Kofi Totobi and a small group are already working on bringing that memorial library back to the shape in which it should be.”
President Mahama emphasised the government’s commitment to ensuring that the library fully achieves the purpose for which it was established.
Beyond the restoration of the physical structure, President Mahama took the opportunity to pay a heartfelt tribute to the late President John Evans Atta Mills, reminding those present that true honour extends far beyond annual wreath-laying ceremonies.
He stated, “Honouring the late President Mills should go beyond laying wreaths once a year. The most meaningful tribute is to live out the values Mills cherished: humility, honesty, and accountability.”
President Mahama described the late Mills as a pillar of calm and reason amid challenges, saying, “He was always calm in the storm, a voice of reasoning, a voice of restraint, and a voice of hope. His was not the politics of insults or vengeance, but the politics of service, compassion, and reconciliation. Even in the face of provocation, he responded not with anger, but with grace.”
Highlighting his steadfast character, he recalled that, “Even when confronted with betrayal or disappointment, he remained steadfast in upholding his principles, and he never allowed power to change who he was. He remained until his last breath a servant of the people, a man of peace, a man of God, and a man of Ghana.”
Having served as the late Mills’ vice president, President Mahama shared his personal experience of the late president’s leadership, saying, “I saw these values in action every day. I witnessed his concern for the most vulnerable in society and his tireless efforts to extend opportunity to every Ghanaian, regardless of background. He was not loud; he was not flamboyant.”
He added, “He believed that leadership should be lived and not performed. Professor Mills governed this country with a deep moral compass. He placed truth over experience, people over politics, and country over self.”
In today’s political climate, which can often be divisive, President Mahama stressed the lasting importance of the late Mills’ lessons.
“These are lessons that continue to resonate, particularly at a time when our politics can be very divisive and disconnected from the hopes of the ordinary Ghanaian,” he said. “As we stand here at his resting place, we must ask ourselves what it means to truly honour the memory of this great man. It is not enough to lay wreaths at his grave once a year. It is not enough to sing his praises in death.”
He concluded by urging, “The most authentic tribute we can give Professor John Atta Mills is to carry forward the values he held dear: to rekindle the spirit of humility, accountability, and ethical leadership. He believed in justice not just as a legal principle but as a way of life. He believed that peace was not the absence of conflict but the presence of fairness.”
Also speaking at the event, National Democratic Congress (NDC) Chairman Johnson Asiedu Nketia reflected on the peaceful nature of the occasion, which he said reflected the true character of Professor Mills.
He said, “The only variable that has changed is the swapping of positions of two very important persons in this country, and they just swapped their positions perfectly. One from a former president to the sitting president, and the other from the sitting president to a former president. So if this celebration is happening in a peaceful atmosphere, that is the true reflection of the lives and beliefs of Professor Mills.”
He added emotionally, “I have peace in my mind, peace in my heart, and I believe that Professor Mills is enjoying peace in his grave.”
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