Ghana's president John Atta Mills is DEAD!!!

Ghana's President John Atta Mills has died at the age of 68. The Ghanaian minister of information, Fritz Baffour, confirmed the president's death in a phone interview with VOA.

The official Ghana News Agency, quoting a statement from the office of the presidency, reports that Mills died Tuesday at a military hospital in the capital, Accra.

The statement said the president died a "sudden and untimely death," a few hours after falling ill.

There was no immediate word on the nature of his illness. Ghana's constitution calls for Vice President John Dramani Mahama to be sworn in as his replacement.