He might have been dead for some time now but his name is still recorded in the minds of people who knew him and worked closely with him. Ghana’s former president of blessed memory Professor John Evans Atta Mills in his life time on earth could be described as a kind man. Presidential aid and youth organizer of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) Ludwig Akpene Hlodze has said the death of the president is a great loss but believes they will continue with the good lessons he taught them. He shared his experience as an errand boy on Multi TV current affairs show pm: EXPRESS. According to him, it was a privilege to be chosen among the lot to run errands for the party and this gave him the opportunity to learn about politics at the youth level. “Prof Mills is a very intelligent man. He identifies potentials and grooms them” said Ludwig. He expressed joy about how President Mills chose him to do all the runs with him as Running Mate for the ruling party in 1996, in the lead up to that year’s elections. The party won, making Prof. Mills the Vice President from 1997 to 2001. Unfortunately, Ludwig was unable to continue his work with the party up until the 2002 elections, which the party lost. During the period the party was in opposition, according to Ludwig, they tried putting things together and were later joined by some of the current crop of young people in in the party - Fifii Kwetey, Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, Koku Ayidoho and others who resigned from their jobs to support the course of the party. This he said gave them the opportunity to develop ideas, which evidently lead to the party regaining power in 2008. One good thing about President Mills, according to Ludwig, was the fact that he never underestimated anyone’s ideas. “Nobody’s idea is unnecessary. He listens a lot, and corrects mistakes by making everyone feel important”, Ludwig said. As a presidential aide, he said, he is responsible to the Presidency and ensures that the President’s schedules are in order. He works directly under the Secretary to the president, Mr. Bebaaku Mensah. Working with the new President John Mahama, has not been any different since he’s already well settled into his role. For him, the most important thing is working for advance the course of the party and helping Ghana’s development agenda by improving the lot of the average Ghanaian President Mills’ death, according to Ludwig, has left a lot of void in the lives of those young people he brought on board and encouraged to assume leadership roles to play their part in national development. Although his misses the late President, he is confident that his legacy would live on through the work of these young people and the team that worked with him till his last breath. He refused to be drawn into the rhetoric of what killed Mills, who killed him or whether he could have been alive if things have been done different. As far he knows, it was time for Mills to go to his maker after serving his time on earth. He advised that respect and support should be given to anyone in leadership position and not unduly criticize them for doing their jobs. Such negative criticism, according to Mr. Hlordze, diverts attention from the good work of these leaders.