Ghana President John Atta Dies @ 68

…Ghana's President John Atta Mills 68, is dead, The president who celebrated his 68th birthday on Saturday has just died unexpectedly, a presidential statement said, and an aide said his death occurred on Today (Tuesday) after he took ill yesterday.

The death of the president of the world's No. 2 cocoa grower comes months before Mills was due to stand for re-election at the helm of the West African country that posted double-digit growth in 2011 and has been praised for its strong democracy in a turbulent region.

"It is with a heavy heart that we announce the sudden and untimely death of the president of the Republic of Ghana," a statement sent to Reuters by the president's office said.

A presidential aide, who asked not to be named, said the president had complained of pains on Monday evening and died this afternoon when his condition worsened.

Mills, who oversaw the start of oil production in Ghana, returned from medical checks in the United States several weeks ago.

John Evans Fifii Atta Mills (21 July 1944 – 24 July 2012) was the third President of the Fourth Republic of Ghana. He was inaugurated on 7 January 2009, having defeated the ruling party candidate Nana Akufo-Addo in the 2008 election.^[1] He was Vice-President from 1997 to 2001 under President Jerry Rawlings, and stood unsuccessfully in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections as the candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC). He died today the 24^th of July 2012 at the 37 Military Hospital in Accra. May his soul rest in perfect peace.