President John Atta Mills of Ghana, who was suffering from throat cancer, has died in hospital in the capital, Accra.
According to a BBC report, a statement from his office said the 68-year-old died a few hours after being taken ill, but did not give details.
"It is with a heavy heart... that we announce the sudden and untimely death of the president of the Republic of Ghana," the statement said.
Mr Atta Mills assumed office in the West African country from 2009.
BBC's correspondent, Sammy Darko, who was at the military hospital in Accra, reported that Mr Atta Mills' voice has been degenerating in the last few months.
Mr Atta Mills came to power after narrowly winning against a candidate from the then governing New Patriotic Party, Nana Akufo-Addo, in polls in December 2008.
Mills graduated in law at the University of Ghana before going on to gain a PhD at London's School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). He was selected as a Fulbright scholar at Stanford Law School in the United States and was awarded his PhD for a thesis on taxation and economic development. His teaching career spanned 30 years.
