We Had Mutual Respect For Each Other - Kufuor Says About Mills

Former President John Agyekum Kufuor says in his 8year rule as Commander-In-Chief and President of the Republic, he was never disrespected by his successor, Prof John Evans Atta Mills, who passed onto eternal glory on Tuesday afternoon.

The late President Mills died at the 37 Military Hospital at 14:15 hrs GMT, after he had been admitted a few hours earlier.

Speaking in an interview with Kwami Sefa Kayi on Wednesday morning on Peace FM’s morning show, ‘Kokrokoo’, former President Kufuor said his immediate successor always treated him with deference and was therefore hit hard by the news of his untimely death, describing it as a great loss to the nation.

He added that his heart goes out to the former First Lady, Naadu Mills and President Mills' immediate family.

Mr Kufuor also appealed to Ghanaians to let the life of Prof Mills guide them to temper with the incessant partisanship and divisiveness that has often characterised the nation’s politics.

Whiles praying that God grants him (Mills) a peaceful resting place, the former NPP leader urged all Ghanaians to hold together as one people in this time of grief and be guided by the common love for country and humanity.

Quite naturally, Mr Kufuor reminisced about Prof Mills whom he met for the first time in 1965, when he (Kufuor) visited the brother-in-law who was a friend to Mr Mills. He also recalled the brouhaha that occasioned President Mills' last State of the Nations Address, when as a result of an oversight, he (Mills) failed to acknowledge his (Kufuor's) presence and how gentlemanly the late president handled the situation.

"President Mills called me on phone and apologized profusely saying it was not deliberate...he even invited me to the Castle afterwards...we had mutual respect for each other...I was shocked (at the news of his demise) and I extend my condolence to the family and the whole country…I am sad because he is the first sitting president of this country to have passed on. We have all been affected by the news and we need to be united in grief. It is not a partisan affair, it affects the whole country and unity must beimportant to everybody....This will send a signal to the whole world that we understand democracy and that we are one people…In my 8 years as President he accorded me all the respect needed; we had mutual respect between the two of us. Even though we don’t belong to the same party, we have respect for each other…” former President Kufuor said.

Source: Rebecca Addo-Tetteh/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana