EMBRACE CALL FOR CHANGE — MILLS (PAGE 17)

THE Presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Professor John Evans Atta Mills, has appealed to the electorate in the Ashanti Region to fully embrace the call for change of leadership being preached by the NDC.
He said the only way to effect the change was to vote massively for the NDC in both presidential and parliamentary elections.
Prof Mills, who was addressing NDC supporters in the Asokwa Constituency last Wednesday as part of his tour of the Ashanti Region, explained that Ashantis by nature were not only fearless, but also very objective and therefore believed that they would accept his message.
He gave the assurance that he would not only be a leader for the entire nation when given the opportunity in the December general election, but would also harness both the human and material resources across the country to accelerate socio-economic development.
Prof Mills expressed concern about the inadequate infrastructure in the region such as good roads and potable water and attributed them to the unfair distribution of the nation’s resources by the NPP government.
He pointed out that it was his cherished dream to initiate programmes and policies that would not only accelerate socio-economic development but also empower the youth to acquire employable skills to reduce the massive employment the NPP government had created since assuming the reins of governance eight years ago.
On the School Feeding Programme introduced by the NPP government, Prof Mills noted that the programme was not all-embracing, because the policy was limited to some few school children in the country and assured the people that his government would expand it to enable every schoolchild at the basic level to benefit from it.
He said he would also establish as many vocational and technical school as possible as a way of offering employable skills to students who may not be able to make it to the tertiary level.
He also promised that his government would intensify agricultural studies at the basic and second cycle schools to enable students who had interest in the sector to develop their potential to the fullest.
“ The graduates from this sector would be provided with seed capital to enable them to establish their own farms and produce food and cash crops to feed the nation and export the surplus,” he assured further.
Prof Mills also advised the electorate to avoid any form of action that could bring violence before, during and after the December general elections.
He said any government that thrived on violence would incurr the wrath of God and could not therefore, initiate any policy that would enhance development.
He said it was important for all parties to be truthful in their actions as a way of creating a peaceful environment in the run-up to the December elections.
Earlier, Ms Ama Benyiwa Doe, National Women’s Organiser of the NDC, extolled the leadership qualities of Prof Mills and advised the electorate to vote massively for him.
She noted that the change of government in the 2000 elections was good because it offered Ghanaians the opportunity to differentiate between a caring government and a government that took the electorate for granted.