Ghana’s President, Prof. John Evans Atta Mills, this afternoon died from a sickness which his office has for long battled to keep away from the public.

“The man had been sick,” a top Ghanaian media practitioner told Transport & Business Express. “The sickness had been there all along but nobody wanted to talk about it. It’s such a pity,” the source added.

A statement from the office of President signed by Mr. John Henry Martey and released by the Ministry of Information announced that Prof. Mills died at the 37 Military Hospital in Accra, the Ghanaian capital.

The late Ghanaian leader was aged 68 and took office on January 7, 2009 after defeating the ruling party candidate Nana Akufo-Addo in the 2008 election.

Vice President John Dramani Mahama is expected to be sworn-in as Acting President within hours.