Professor Patrick Lumumba, a well-known Kenyan lawyer and activist, has paid tribute to former President John Evans Atta Mills for the work he did as President of Ghana, despite the fact that he only held the position for a brief amount of time.
During his remarks at the 11th JEA Mills Commemorative Lecture, which took place at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, he mentioned that the late president was neither corrupt nor pompous like other world leaders.
On Thursday, Professor Lumumba made the statement that the time that former President Atta Mills spent in office serves as evidence that quality of leadership is more important than tenure in office.
In order to properly honour the life and times of President Atta Mills, a number of questions need to be asked. The annals of history have recorded, and will continue to do so until contrary evidence is presented, that he held the record for the shortest amount of time served as President of Ghana.
However, the imprints he left in the sands of time show us that the quality of one's service is more important than the length of time spent in military service. Therefore, the first message that we are delivering to Africans today is that one's longevity in office is not, in and of itself, what makes them great; rather, it is the quality of service that they provide.
He criticised politicians who are unwilling to step down from their positions, saying that "their refusal to leave the stage has made Africa the poorer."
Prof. Lumumba urged the nation's other political leaders to take more lessons from the former president, noting that Atta Mills' reputation for humility was one of his greatest achievements.
"We are reminding them that Atta Mills was the personification of humility and if Africa is to be great we must have men and women who are humble because humility is the mother's milk of servant leadership," he remarked. "We are reminding them that Atta Mills was the personification of humility."