John Mahama wrote his resignation before Mills died – Manasseh’s book reveals

Before President John Evans Atta-Mills died, his Vice-President, John Dramani Mahama, had written his resignation letter, The Ghana Report can exclusively reveal.

His decision to resign as Ghana’s Vice-President was as a result of endless frustration he suffered at the hands of some presidential staffers and ministers of state in the President Mills administration.

Mahama was routinely treated with disrespect and contempt by these staffers and ministers. This revelation is contained in Manasseh Azure Awuni’s book, which is due to be launched Wednesday.

The book, “The Fourth John: Reign, Rejection and Rebound”, gives a revealing account of John Mahama’s presidency. It also chronicles the former NDC MP John Dramani Mahama’s ascension to high office.

That ascension was, at a point, an agenda by the northern caucus within the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

The Ghana Report, which is the official media partner for the launch of Manasseh’s spell-binding book, can exclusively report that the first person to stop the intended resignation of Vice President Mahama was the Chief Director at the Office of the Vice President.

“The Chief Director at the Office of the Vice President had returned from lunch break to find the typist in the office seriously typing a letter. Official letters often passed through him (the Chief Director), and he then assigned the typist to work on them.”

“But this was an exception. When he asked typist what he was typing, he said the vice president had given him something to type but he would not speak when asked what it was. Perhaps, the content was too heavy for his mouth.”

“The Chief Director then drew closer to him and looked at the screen of the computer. What greeted him from the screen, alarmed him. It was Vice President John Mahama’s resignation letter that was almost ready. He didn’t have the time to read the full letter. He ordered the typist to stop typing and he headed for John Mahama’s office.”

The book also reveals that the Vice President Mahama’s wife, Lordina Mahama, had met with President Mills to complain that the frustration her husband endured was so serious that it affected his conjugal roles at home.

President Atta Mills, according to sources Manasseh spoke to in the writing of the book did not sanction the ill-treatment meted out to his Vice-President. He took practical steps to assure Vice President Mahama of his support and faith in him.

Surprisingly, Mahama’s vice president, Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur, also had his fair share of sidelining and frustration by some Flagstaff House officials as revealed in Manasseh’s book.

President Mills died in July 2012, and Vice President Mahama took over as President and went ahead to contest and win the 2012 election. His presidency is the focus of Manasseh’s book, but the book also provides intriguing details of plans to make Mahama President even before President Mills selected him as the NDC’s running mate for the 2008 election.

Manasseh spoke to highly placed sources within the NDC and officials in Mahama’s government to understand how the presidency of John Mahama worked.

The 396-page book is due to be launched in four cities in Ghana. The Accra launch will be on Wednesday, November 27, 2019, at Christ the King Parish Hall, opposite the Jubilee House.

The Kumasi launch is slated for Thursday, November 28, at the Golden Tulip Hotel, Kumasi, at 5:30pm, while the Tamale launch comes off on Friday November 29, at the GNAT Hall at the same time.

The launch train will end in Bolgatanga on November 30, at the Akayet Hotel also at 5:30p.m.

On Sunday, December 1, Manasseh will hold a book reading and signing session in Wa at the Upland Hotel from 2.p.m. to 4.p.m.