Mills: I will lead a gov't of accountability, honesty

THE FORMER Vice-President and National Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate, Prof. John Evans Atta Fiifi Mills, has promised to lead a government of accountability and honesty when elected president.

According to the former Vice-President, the clear distinction between the NDC and the New Patriotic Party (NPP), was that while the former cared for Ghanaians, the latter was rather very arrogant, discriminatory, and extravagant.

Speaking at a rally, which attracted thousands of NDC supporters to the Jubilee Park in Bolgatanga last Tuesday, to climax his final campaign tour of the Upper East Region, Prof. Mills said most Ghanaians were distressed with the high level of corruption, drug trafficking, selective justice and extravagant display of money by the NPP members, to the disadvantage of the ordinary Ghanaian.

He said the NPP slogan of moving forward, only meant that they were moving Ghanaians into corruption, cocaine, arrogance, selective justice, discrimination and dishonesty, which was a recipe for plunging the country into excessive hardships.

Prof. Mills, therefore, promised to be president for all Ghanaians, irrespective of their political culture, and urged the electorate not to sell their faith, future, education and jobs, by voting for the NPP.

He promised that when elected president, the struggles that Moslems in the north went through before going to Mecca would be a thing of the past, because he would upgrade the Tamale Airport to international standards, where people would fly to other countries without first going to Accra.

The former Vice-President also promised to upgrade the Tamale Teaching Hospital, to a clinical centre with modern laboratory equipment, to serve as a practical training centre for medical students of the University for Development Studies (UDS).

On agriculture, he promised to rehabilitate the Tono and Vea dams in the region, and also construct new ones at Garu and Zebilla, for irrigation purposes.

Protective clothing and donkey carts would be given to women for picking and carting of shea nut.

Though he was appreciative of the support given to the NDC by the people of the region in the previous elections, he made a special appeal to them not to vote “skirt and blouse”, but ensure that they voted for the party at both presidential and parliamentary levels.

Prof. Mills stated that the wind of change had blown in America, and would soon blow in Ghana, indicating that the Americans wanted a change and had it, and now Ghanaians also want a change, and surely it would come.

Nii Lantey Vanderpuye, a leading member of the NDC, said the party started developing the north before the NPP came into power, and with only less that two months for them to leave office, President Kufuor had started talking about how to develop the north.

He told the UDS students that they were the ones the next NDC administration would use to develop the north, promising that Mills would expand the university to help revolutionarise agriculture in the north.

Nii Natey claimed that the standard of education had fallen, because the NPP government had not motivated teachers.

He said when NDC comes to power it would use the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) to build laboratories, classroom accommodation, and learning materials for students, and teachers' bungalows to make teaching and learning more attractive.

Other speakers at the rally included Mr. Ato Ahwoi, Abuga Pele, Martin Amidu, Madam Bolco, Donald Adabire, Mahama Ayariga, Ama Benyiwa Doe and some leading members of the party.