Cart 0
John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills (21 July 1944 – 24 July 2012) was a Fante politician and legal scholar who served as President of Ghana from 2009 until his death in 2012.
Biography
Mills was born on 21 July 1944 in Tarkwa (Wassa State), in the Western Region of Ghana. His parents were John Atta Mills Sr., an educator, who taught at the Komenda Teacher Training College and Mercy Dawson Amoah. He was the second child (and first son) among seven siblings. A Fante who hailed from the Ekumfi Otuam town in the Mfantsiman East constituency of the Central Region of Ghana. He had his primary and middle school education at Huni Valley Methodist Primary School and Komenda Methodist Middle School respectively. He then proceeded to the Achimota School for his secondary education, where he completed the Ordinary and Advanced-Level Certificates in 1961 and 1963 respectively, and the University of Ghana, Legon, where he completed a bachelor of law degree, LLB and a professional law certificate in 1967
Mills studied at the London School of Economics and Political Science where he obtained an LLM in 1968 and earned a PhD in Law at the School of Oriental and African Studies School of Law, part of the federal University of London, after completing his doctoral thesis in the field of taxation and economic development in 1971 at the age of 27.
Mills’ first formal teaching assignment was as a lecturer at the Faculty of Law at the University of Ghana. He spent close to twenty-five years teaching at Legon and other institutions of higher learning. In 1971, he was selected for the Fulbright Scholar programme at Stanford Law School in the US.
He returned to Ghana, at the end of the international educational exchange fellowship to work at his alma mater, the University of Ghana, for 25 years. He became a visiting professor at Temple University (Philadelphia, USA), with two stints from 1978 to 1979, and 1986 to 1987. He was also a visiting lecturer at Leiden University in the Netherlands from 1985 to 1986. During this period, he authored several publications relating to taxation in the 1970s and 1980s.
Outside of his academic pursuits, Mills was the Acting Commissioner of Ghana’s Internal Revenue Service from 1988 to 1993 under President Jerry John Rawlings, and the substantive Commissioner from 1993 to 1996. By 1992, he had become an Associate Professor of Law at the University of Ghana. In 2002, he was a visiting scholar at the Liu Institute for Global Issues at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia through a joint Canadian International Development Agency(CIDA) – International Development Research Centre (IDRC) fellowship programme.
As a sports administrator, he contributed to the Ghana Hockey Association, National Sports Council of Ghana, Ghana Olympic Committee and Accra Hearts of Oak Sporting Club. He enjoyed field hockey and swimming, and once played for the national hockey team (he remained a member of the Veterans Hockey Team until his death). He was also a board member of Hearts of Oak.
Rawlings selected Mills for the vacated Vice-Presidency in his bid for re-election to a second term in the election and was re-elected to his second term in office, serving from 1996 to 2000. In his capacity as vice-president, he served as the Chairman of the Police Council of Ghana and the Chairman of the Economic Management Team.
Mills became the third president of the 4th Republic of Ghana. Self-described as a social democrat who believed in the concept of social welfare espoused by Kwame Nkrumah (independent Ghana’s first leader), Mills embraced a political platform that was more comprehensive and less divisive than that of either Nkrumah or Rawlings. John Atta Mills was sworn in as president on 7 January 2009 in a peaceful transition after Akufo-Addo was narrowly defeated. His persistence and determination paid off when he won the 2008 presidential poll.
Some of the monumental achievements chalked during his term of office (Two and a half years) include:
Economy
Under Mills, Ghana’s stable economy experienced sustained reduced inflation leading to the attainment of single digit inflation of about 8.4% (one of the lowest inflation rates Ghana had attained in 42 years i.e. period between 1970 and 2012 as well as the lowest since June 1992 just before the start of Ghana’s Fourth Republic) from a high of 18.1% in December 2008. This is indicative of prudent fiscal, monetary and other austerity policy measures that characterised his presidency to put the economy in healthy shape. The Ghanaian currency, the Cedi also stabilised as a result of these policies. In 2011, Ghana was the fastest growing economy in the world at 20.15% for the first half of the year and 14.4% at the end of the financial year according to the International Monetary Fund and EconomyWatch.com. Moreover, Ghana’s budget deficit was reduced to 2% of the Gross Domestic Product during his tenure compared to 14.5% of GDP in 2008, just before he was elected as the President of Ghana. There was also a huge improvement in Ghana’s gross international reserves and foreign direct investments (FDI) highlighting exceptional macroeconomic performance. The Mills government also implemented the Single Spine Salary system which increased compensation levels of all public sector workers. In a bid to improve the efficiency in revenue collection, Mills established the Ghana Revenue Authority which integrated Value Added Tax (VAT), Customs Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) and Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Under his governance, Ghana met three out of the four primary convergence criteria for the proposed common currency, Eco of the West African Monetary Zone. These accomplishments led to renewed domestic and foreign investor confidence in Ghana’s economy. During Mills’ time in office, Ghana was adjudged the best place for doing business in West Africa and best West African performer in access to credit according to the 2011 World Bank Doing Business global rankings.
Education
There was also an increase in the capitation grants (government subsidies towards public education) under Mills. The government also introduced a programme to provide free school uniforms to deprived communities while providing over 100,000 laptops or notebooks to school children to facilitate the learning process in a highly technological world. An initiative to provide free exercise books started under Mills. More than 23 million books were distributed. His government also expanded the school feeding programme to include 230 more schools. Government paid the full tuition fees for all teachers pursuing further studies through distance learning. A sustained program involving the Ministry of Education, the GETFUND, and resources allocated by the various District Assemblies have begun to ensure the elimination of schools under trees and provide all schools in the country with decent classroom infrastructure. Out of the 4,320 schools under trees, almost 1,700 schools under trees were eliminated across the country. The Mills administration also started a program to re-equip science resource centres in all districts of the country to enhance the teaching and learning of science. Two new specialized public universities were established during his tenure: the University of Health and Allied Sciences in the Volta Region and the University of Energy and Natural Resources in the Brong-Ahafo Region. As president, Mills established a working relationship between the Masters in Development Practice program (MDP) at the University of Winnipeg, Canada and the University for Development Studies Ghana, leading to a joint initiative on the study of development practice for Indigenous and traditional societies.
Health
During his term of office, the Mills government provided a facelift to many teaching, regional and district hospitals across the country by upgrading old facilities and providing newer ones such as more high-tech equipment and more beds in hospitals, particularly at the Tamale Teaching Hospital. His government also built several polyclinics to increase access to healthcare. The government also scaled up the National Ambulance Service to cover all districts in the nation. Increased collaboration between stakeholders led higher patronage of the National Health Insurance Scheme. Utilization of the scheme rose by 75%.
Governance and international relations
True to his promise to reduce the number of Ministerial appointees and run a lean government, the number of Ministers was significantly reduced from 87 of the previous Kufuor NPP government to 73 (a reduction of 16%) in the Mills-led government. It was projected that approximately $4 million was saved annually by this bold decision to run a small government. The hundreds of Special Assistants, Presidential Staffers and Spokespersons were also eliminated to improve fiscal efficiency. He commissioned a review of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana in a bid to improve upon the country’s governance architecture. He held an annual media forum every year at the presidency to interact with journalists about socio-political issues.
President Atta Mills re-equipped and re-tooled the security agencies: the military, the police, the fire service, the Immigration, The Prisons Service and the Customs Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS). In order to ensure inter-generational equity because of the “finite nature of resource revenue” as well as financial security for future Ghanaian generations, the Mills government established in 2011, the Ghana Heritage Fund- a sovereign wealth fund generated from petroleum revenue accumulated from the country’s oil and gas industry. John Atta Mills established the Media Development Fund to promote media excellence and freedom in the spirit of 1992 constitution. A few months prior to his death, he was praised by US President Barack Obama for making Ghana a “good news story” that had good democratic credentials. He also fostered economic ties with China in a bid strengthen Sino-Ghanaian bilateral relations. In 2009, the Journal of International Affairs at Columbia University featured Mills as one of the “Five Faces of African Innovation and Entrepreneurship” along with South African innovator, Euvin Naidoo and Mo Ibrahim, (founder of Celtel International and Chairman of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation) where he was lauded for his commitment to strengthening Ghana’s Electoral Commission, National Media Commission and National Commission for Civic Education and more importantly, transparency in public institutions, particularly in the country’s growing oil and gas sector. Mills’ leadership style was very diplomatic, inclusive and less polarising than his predecessors. The BBC described his presidency as that of “a peacemaker who was never one to make disparaging comments in public” despite intense criticisms and vilification from his political supporters and opponents alike.
Agriculture, energy access and rural development
The Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) law was passed and work was started to open up the three Northern regions, Brong Ahafo and Volta Regions to enhance agriculture production and industrialisation. Under Mills, the producer price of cocoa increased appreciably to $1600 per tonne of 16 bags, which was the highest in the sub-region and the highest that had ever been paid to cocoa farmers in Ghana’s entire history. Cocoa production also hit a record-breaking 1 million metric tonnes. Under the rural electrification programme, he extended national electricity coverage from 54% to 72% improving livelihoods in 1,700 communities and making Ghana the third best country in sub-Saharan Africa after Mauritius and South Africa with enhanced energy access.
Other activities and projects
At the University of Ghana, Mills was the Hall Tutor of Legon Hall as well as serving as the Hall Librarian, Member of Legon Hall Council, Member of Board of Social Studies and School of Administration, Member of Admissions Board, Staff Housing Loans Scheme and the Chairman of the University Superannuation Scheme. Mills was involved in various activities and projects:[10]
- He was a member of the Ghana Stock Exchange council.
- In 1988, he became the acting commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service of Ghana and was named national tax commissioner in September 1993.
- He also held examiner positions with finance-related institutions in Ghana, including the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Institute of Bankers, and Ghana Tax Review Commission.
- He served on the Board of Trustees of the Mines Trust.
- He was a member of the Management Committee of the Commonwealth Administration of Tax Experts, United Nations Ad Hoc Group of Experts in International Cooperation in Tax Matters and United Nations Law and Population Project.
- He led a study on equipment leasing in Ghana.
- He chaired the casebook preparation on Ghana’s income tax.
- He oversaw the Review of Ghana’s Double Tax Agreement with the UK.
Selected writings of John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills
Mills’ more than one dozen publicationsncluded:
- Taxation of Periodical or Deferred Payments arising from the Sale of Fixed Capital (1974)
- Exemption of Dividends from Income Taxation: A Critical Appraisal (1977)
- Report of the Tax Review Commission, Ghana, parts 1 – 3 (1977)
- Ghana’s Income Tax Laws and the Investor (1978)
- Ghana’s New Investment Code: An Appraisal (1986)
- Criminal Law Treatment of Sexual Activity
- The role of the state in the evolution of the family in Anglophone countries of Africa: An overview
- A survey of taxes on the individual in Ghana
- Ghana’s wealth tax: Some issues and problems
- Africa in the World (2002)
- NEPAD and New International Relations (2002)
- The Decline of a Regional Fishing Nation: The Case of Ghana and West Africa (2004)[
Memorials and legacy
As Head of State, Mills received the 2009 Glo-CAF Platinum Award for “commitment and contribution to sports and football development in the country.” Mills was posthumously awarded the highest prize as the 2012 Lifetime Africa Achievement Prize Laureate on Democratic Governance and Development in Africa. According to the Prize Committee, the award was in “recognition of his genteel disposition, virtues, devotion and commitment to the enhancement of good Democratic Governance and Development in Ghana and Africa at large. This exaltation of character, which is worthy of emulation, has made positive impact on the lives of his people today and will continue to influence them for a better future. His courageous acts in defence and protection of fairness to all is recognized and respected on the global platform and lend to all Africans the hope that through the values of equity and democracy, we can live in peace and harmony with each other to engender communal development and life’s fulfilment. This individual’s leadership has had a direct impact on Ghana’s success and growth which is cherished by Ghanaians countrywide.”
At the 2013 African Achievers Awards, he was also awarded the Posthumous Award for Excellence in Africa in recognition of his achievements and leadership.
The Institute of International Education (IIE) in New York City also posthumously bestowed on him its highest award, The Fritz Redlich Alumni Award in recognition of “his distinguished career and exemplary leadership that increased cooperation and understanding between Ghana and the world, and his resolute support for advancing education to prepare an entire generation in Ghana for today’s competitive, globalized economy and to honour him as the first ever Fulbright Scholar to become the Head of State of an African nation by becoming the President of Ghana.” In appreciation of Mills’ total commitment to the rule of law and good governance, the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration, established The John Evans Atta Mills Centre for Law and Governance to undertake high quality research and theorisation in law, global governance and public policy.
In the wake of his death, Accra High Street was renamed John Evans Atta Mills High Street by an Accra Metropolitan Assembly resolution and in Cape Coast a street linking Cape Coast Castle to Mfantsipim Junction was renamed President John Atta Mills Street by the Paramount Chief of Cape Coast, Omanhen of the Oguaa Traditional Area, Osaberima Kwesi Atta II. Furthermore, for his role in consolidating local development, the Suhum Municipal Assembly and the Ga South Assembly named bypass roads after him. Also, the Municipal Assembly of Obuasi honoured Mills by naming a principal street after him in the southern mining town of Obuasi, located in the geographic middle belt of Ghana. whilst the Nandom Assembly honoured Mills by naming a street after him for creating the District in 2012.
The New Millennium City School at the Salvation Army Cluster of Schools was renamed President John Evans Atta Mills Educational Centre of Excellence. An ICT Centre was also built at Mills’ alma mater Huni Valley Methodist Basic School to honour his memory while the University of Ghana, Legon, co-named its Faculty of Law building after him (and former Dean, Professor Akua Kuenyehia) in recognition of his contributions to the department as a professor and president. In 2015, the Ghanaian government named a newly commissioned community day secondary school after Atta Mills in his hometown, Otuam The Judicial Council of Ghana renamed its largest court complex after Atta Mills in acknowledgement of his contributions as “a true democrat who respected the independence of the Judiciary and worked to promote it.” Additionally, a research centre known as the Kwame Nkrumah-Atta Mills Legacy Institute (KNAMLI) has been set up to study the political ideals of tolerance that President Mills cherished through his non-pursual of partisan retribution as well as his demonstration of a passive response to vitriolic attacks, vindictiveness, violence and insults as preached by global icons like Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Kwame Nkrumah and Nelson Mandela. This will act as a living testimony worthy of preservation, emulation and impartation to the youth. The institute is also a think-tank for strategic studies and organisation, in line with Nkrumah’s declaration that organisation decides everything. To mark the 2013 World Post Day, the Ghana Post in collaboration with the Ministry of Communications issued commemorative postal stamps of Atta Mills in appreciation of his “dedication to social justice and political stability.” In honour of his “contribution to the promotion and development of sports in general and hockey in particular”, the National Hockey Association launched a yearly multinational hockey gala, the John Evans Atta Mills Annual Hockey Tournament. Other permanent memorials to institutionalise his legacy include the annual Atta Mills Memorial Lectures, the Atta Mills Foundation (a humanitarian non-profit organisation) and the Atta Mills Memorial Research Library affiliated to the University of Cape Coast In 2014, the Ghanaian government named the country’s second floating production storage and offloading vessel, FPSO John Atta Mills – as president, he superintended over the first production of Ghana’s new-found oil in commercial quantities. A new girls’ boarding house at his alma mater, Achimota School has been named in his honour. In 2015, a newly constructed community day senior high school at Ekumfi Otuam in the Central Region, was named in honour of Mills in recognition of “his passion in promoting education”. In July 2019 a seventh anniversary memorial and wreath laying ceremony took place at the Asomdwee Park. In February 2022, the John Evans Atta Mills Memorial Heritage was launched by the National Democratic Congress.
John Evans Atta Mills Memorial Lectures
These lectures were instituted in his memory. At the sixth annual lecture held at University of Health and Allied Sciences at Ho in April 2022, Joseph Siaw Agyapong disclosed that Mills resisted pressures from within his own party to cripple his business as he was affiliated to the NPP government of John Kufuor as his colleagues wanted retaliation for alleged victimisation during his rule. He instead supported and facilitated the expansion of his business. He was called “Asomdwehene” because of acts such as this.
A TRUE PATRIOT AND MAN OF CHARACTER.
