Alban Bagbin
The Ministry of Health (MoH) has held a solemn memorial service in honor of late President John Evans Atta Mills.
The service, which was attended by employees of the health ministry and the Ghana Health Service (GHS), formed part of the three-day national mourning for the former president.
Dr. Sylvester Anemana, chief director of the MoH, and Dr. Frank Nyonator, general director of the ministry, read the first and second scriptures of the ceremony held at the forecourt of the ministry.
The Minister of Health, Alban S. K Bagbin, in a short tribute to the late president, eulogized Professor Mills for being one of the nation’s greatest servants whom many Ghanaians were not expecting to pass away so suddenly.
He said the late President Mills was a caring, principled and a dedicated leader who made lasting contributions towards the advancement of economic development and good governance.
“Late President Mills was a distinguished statesman, an agent of change and also an embodiment of integrity and humility,” he said.
Hon. Bagbin also noted that the late president’s tenure of office witnessed significant strides in the health sector, especially in the area of infrastructure development and maternal and child health services.
He observed that the late President Mill’s passion to deliver quality healthcare service had led to the country securing an external grant of over 75million euros in support of maternal and infant health in Ghana.
“In this moment of grief, we take consolation in Isaiah 57 versus 1 and 2 which reads, “the righteous perish, and no one ponders it is in his heart, devout men are taken away and no one understands that the righteous who walk upright enter into peace, they find rest as the die in death”,” he quoted.
Rev. Mr. Herman Dusu, giving an exhortation, said the ministry was not mourning because the late president was with the Lord.
Taking his sermon from the book of Psalm 90, he elaborated that life was short and thus should be lived to please God.
He said in every death there was a message and Professor Mills’ death showed us the message of humility.
Mr. Dusu continued that he believed the late president was in the bosom of the Almighty God because everyone testified that he was a man of God who lived a modest and God-fearing life.
He stressed on the need for everyone to be humble, forgiving and peace-loving just like the late Professor John Evans Atta Mills.
By Jamila A. Okertchiri & Eunice Asante
