John Atta Mills Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===State funeral=== [[File:Atta Mills Mausoleum, Korle-Klottey (IMG 20230201 133136 1).jpg|thumb|right|Atta Mills' gravestone at the Asomdwee Park, Accra in 2023]] From 8β10 August, his body [[lay in state]], and Ghanaian government officials, civil society, traditional leaders, the clergy, the general public and dignitaries such as CΓ΄te d'Ivoire's [[Alassane Ouattara]], Liberia's [[Ellen Johnson Sirleaf]], Nigeria's [[Goodluck Jonathan]] and Senegal's [[Macky Sall]] paid their last respects. Within this period, a two-night vigil was also held at the forecourt of the State House for cultural and musical performances such as traditional dirges, plays and tribute reading. Thousands streamed into the [[Parliament House of Ghana|State House]] to pay their last respects to Mills as he [[lay in state]] with some mourners queuing for hours, many of them wailing with grief, in lines up to 10 km (6 miles) long per press reports.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-19204106 |title=President John Atta Mills funeral held in Ghana |newspaper=BBC News |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140605051701/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-19204106 |archive-date=5 June 2014 |date=10 August 2012 }}</ref> The body was then taken by a military [[cortege]] from the State House parliamentary complex to the Independence Square for the funerary services which was attended by 18 African Heads of State, 5 vice-presidents, United States Secretary of State, [[Hillary Clinton]], former United Nations [[Secretary-General]], [[Kofi Annan]], president of the [[Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace]], [[Cardinal (Catholicism)|Cardinal]] [[Peter Turkson]], [[Secretary-General]] of [[African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States]], [[Mohamed Ibn Chambas]] and several other international envoys. In all, there were 67 foreign delegations represented at the funeral.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/10/world/africa/ghana-funeral-mills/ |title=Ghana mourns as President John Atta Mills is buried |author=the CNN Wire Staff |date=10 August 2012 |work=CNN |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140805134048/http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/10/world/africa/ghana-funeral-mills |archive-date=5 August 2014 }}</ref> In addition to the over 50,000 people who gathered for the ceremony, his funeral was also attended by Benin's [[Thomas Boni Yayi]], who said of Mills that he was "passionate about peace in Africa and in the region," as well as Togo's [[Faure Gnassingbe]], who said "[Mills] was like a brother to me. I will surely miss him."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2012/08/20128101419431132.html |title=Thousands attend Ghana president's funeral β Africa |publisher=Al Jazeera |access-date=27 September 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120926102532/http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2012/08/20128101419431132.html |archive-date=26 September 2012 }}</ref> Ahead of religious ceremonies on Friday morning, the officially declared [[national day of mourning]], a helicopter hovered over the area dropping leaflets reading: ''We want peaceful elections in 2012''.<ref name="modernghana1">{{cite web |date=13 August 2012 |title=How the foreign media carried President Mills burial |url=http://www.modernghana.com/news/411289/1/how-the-foreign-media-carried-president-mills-buri.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160111033212/http://www.modernghana.com/news/411289/1/how-the-foreign-media-carried-president-mills-buri.html |archive-date=11 January 2016 |access-date=27 September 2012 |publisher=ModernGhana}}</ref> The funeral ended with the release of a hundred white doves into the air to signify the peaceful nature of the departed leader.<ref name="modernghana1"/> After the funeral service, the president's body was taken on a military procession through some principal streets of the Ghanaian capital, [[Accra]] and then for burial in a newly created [[President (government title)|presidential]] [[mausoleum]] located in the northern part ([[List of cemeteries in Accra|Asomdwee Park]]) of a bird sanctuary, Geese Park renamed along the Marine Drive and next to the old seat of government, the 17th-century Fort Christiansborg, (also known as [[Osu Castle]]), which overlooks the Atlantic Ocean's [[Gulf of Guinea]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-19204106 |title=BBC News β President John Atta Mills funeral held in Ghana |publisher=BBC |date=10 August 2012 |access-date=27 September 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021013124/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-19204106 |archive-date=21 October 2012 }}</ref> As the sitting [[Commander-in-Chief]], Mills was accorded full military honours, steeped in distinct and elaborate traditions, including a slow march by the [[Ghana Army]], a [[flypast]] of [[Ghana Air Force]] jets ejecting plumes of smoke in the [[national colours]] of red, gold and green, with the [[Ghana Navy]] ships also performing ceremonial manoeuvres on the shoreline behind the Independence Square and a [[21-gun salute]] accompanying the playing of the bugle call, [[Sunset (bugle call)|''Sunset'']] and the [[Christian hymn]], ''[[Abide with Me]]'' (''Eventide'') synchronized with the sounding of the [[Last Post]] by military buglers after the casket had been lowered into the grave.<ref>{{cite web |date=10 August 2012 |title=Late President Mills To Be Buried With Full Military Honours |url=http://www.ghana.gov.gh/index.php/news/general-news/15229-late-president-mills-to-be-buried-with-full-military-honours |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120814145505/http://www.ghana.gov.gh/index.php/news/general-news/15229-late-president-mills-to-be-buried-with-full-military-honours |archive-date=14 August 2012 |access-date=27 September 2012 |publisher=Ghana government ghana}}</ref> Approximately 700 domestic and foreign media outlets received accreditation from the Ghanaian Ministry of Information to cover the event.<ref>{{cite web |date=7 August 2012 |title=700 expected to cover Mills' funeral | General News |url=http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=247060 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120910153321/http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=247060 |archive-date=10 September 2012 |access-date=27 September 2012 |publisher=Ghanaweb.}}</ref> An estimated 20β25 million television and online or web audience watched the three-day funeral ceremonies. The [[state funeral]] for the late president was most likely the largest gathering of people in one place at a single public event in recent or modern Ghanaian history. Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page