My condolences to the people of Ghana on the sudden and unexpected passing of His Excellency, President John Atta Mills.
Right now we don't know what this means for the rest of our work here. Thankfully we had decided to not go out for dinner tonight and are all safely in our hotel (across the street from the Danish embassy). The crowds that are forming near the hospital in Accra where the president had been taken are apparently huge and traffic is reported to be very bad (and it is not normally what I would call good).
In the meantime, everyone is safe, the country is in shock and mourning. We will figure out what tomorrow brings when tomorrow comes.
#ibmcsc ghana
Quick update: We don't know anything more than yesterday, in part because the wake for the wife of the Mayor of Accra is today, and the funeral is tomorrow, meaning that our AMA contacts are all absorbed with that (so double condolences to the Mayor, as the President was a close personal friend of his). We have also heard that there is no precedent in Ghana for how to handle the elaborate mourning and funeral period (for the Mayor's wife this took almost 4 weeks) and so the government is reaching out to neighbouring countries for information. We are also hearing of Ghanians in neighbouring countries chartering coaches, busses, truc trucs, to come to Accra to pay their respects. A crowded city is about to become even more busy.
ReplyDelete