President Mills assures Ghanaians abroad of peaceful 2012 elections

President J.E.A. Mills

President John Evans Atta Mills has allayed the fears of Ghanaians abroad over the 2012 presidential elections and said the elections will pass off successfully without rancor and acrimony.

He said Ghana would remain peaceful and united before, during and after the elections and called on Ghanaians abroad to return home and contribute to the development of the country.

“Let me assure you that Ghana will not break before, during and after the elections. We will remain united and ready to welcome you to display the skills you have acquired, particularly in the areas of oil and gas,” he said.

Addressing the Ghanaian community in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, on Wednesday ahead of the AU Summit which was due to officially open on Wednesday, President Mills said: “Your skills are needed back home.”

He acknowledged the challenges confronting the country, but said measures had been put in place by the government to overcome them.

“At the end of our tenure, Ghanaians, based on our good work, will give us another chance,” he added.

He called on the people to tolerate dissenting views since no two persons could think and act alike, and urged them to jaw-jaw, instead of war-war.

The President used the occasion to bemoan the politics of insults and mudslinging. “What do we teach our generation when we disagree with people and use insults to show such disagreements?” he asked.

He thanked the host President for the warm welcome and the facilities he had put at the disposal of the Ghanaian delegation and also lauded the Ghanaian community for the reception accorded the delegation.

On the theme for the summit, which is centred on the youth, President Mills called for proactive action to enable the youth to look into the future with confidence.

The Foreign Affairs Minister, Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni, said the problems confronting the establishment of an Honorary Consul in Bata were being resolved.

He said the President had the vision to empower Ghanaians to engage in shaping the better Ghana agenda.

That, he said, had culminated in the President's determination to meet the Ghanaian community any time he made a trip outside the country, so that he could take them on board, not only as a foreign policy, but also in fulfillment of the better Ghana agenda.

The Chairman of the Ghanaian community in Malabo, Mr. Samuel Kwabena Ntow, enumerated some of the problems confronting Ghanaians in that country and expressed the hope that the President would help resolve them.