Rumours On Mills' Death "Stupid" - Kwesi Jonah

A Political Scientist and a research fellow with the Institute of Democratic Governance (IDEG), Kwesi Jonah has slammed the opposition New Patriotic Party for demanding the health records of President Mills be published. Mr. Jonah also described rumours of the President�s death prior to his departure for medical checkup in the US as �stupid� and stated that Ghanaians should refrain from engaging in �dirty politics with the health of the President�. The NPP has, in the past, questioned the health status of the president, demanding that he makes his health records available for public scrutiny. After the trip of President Mills to the United States for routine medical checkup on Saturday, the NPP again demanded that the health status of President Mills be published. NPP Chairman for the Greater Accra region, Ishmael Ashittey said if a President of a nation is not well, it can affect his mental capacity and delivery. But speaking on Breakfast XYZ on Wednesday, Mr. Jonah stated that making the health record of the President is not right. �I don�t think making his health record public will be right; every citizen of this country has the right to some privacy. We cannot do politics with the President�s health�. Mr. Jonah also entreated the President�s communication team to be forthcoming with information on the President to prevent people from spreading all forms of false rumours. He said �In the US, if the President gets a cardiac problem, it will be announced, as soon as the operation is done, it will be announced. They are very transparent about the health of public officers, the information is readily available�. �But in Ghana, the health of the person we have elected is a closely guarded secret and this is what compels people to play all kinds of dirty politics with the health of the President�. �We should be open like other societies are about his health conditions, if he is going to the hospital we should let the public know. It is precisely because we have not been forthcoming with the health conditions of our politicians that people tend to speculate and do all kinds of unnecessary politics�.