PROF MILLS ASSURES YOUTH OF SUPPORT (PAGE 16)

THE flag bearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Prof. John Evans Atta Mills, has given the assurance that an NDC government under his leadership will provide capital for the youth who have successfully undergone entrepreneurial skills training.
He also gave the assurance that if voted into power his administration would ensure that whoever was interested in agriculture will be given incentives, and that an NDC led government would modernise agriculture.
Prof. Mills gave the assurance when he addressed thousands of supporters of the NDC at a rally organised at the Victoria Park in Sunyani at the weekend.
“I will lead the crusade against corruption in the country if voted into power, and I will use myself as an example. Any member of my family, my siblings, party members and other close associates who are found to be engaged in any form of corruption, I will let the law take its course”, he told the enthusiastic crowd.
The NDC flag bearer accused the NPP administration of lacking transparency, being discriminatory and disrespectful to Ghanaians but again gave the assurance that when given the mandate he would be a President of all Ghanaians without discrimination.
According to Prof. Mills, Ghanaians are hardworking people but it was rather unfortunate that there was no money in their pockets while the cronies of the NPP government were enjoying under the Kufuor administration, pointing out that the situation needed to change.
He told the cheering crowd that now that they had “carried water and wine” and had come to realise which of the two was heavier they were the best witnesses to distinguish between the administration of the NDC and the NPP.
Prof. Mills pointed out that under the NDC government, about 264 secondary schools were constructed in eight years, a record he said the NPP could not boast of within the same period of its administration of the country, and yet the party was still talking about policies and projects which were not feasible to undertake.
He pointed out that, currently only 30 per cent of graduates of the junior high school (JHS) gain admission into senior high school (SHS).
The NDC Presidential aspirant further accused the Kufuor administration of not being sensitive to the plight of teachers, whose conditions of service he noted, were not the best and gave the assurance that under his leadership as President, a lot more people would love to join the teaching profession.
He also noted with satisfaction that even though the security personnel were laying down their lives to protect life and property in the country yet little was being done to improve on their conditions of service.
Prof. Mills called for peaceful elections but cautioned the people not to allow themselves to be induced with money to vote against their conscience, thereby toying with their own destiny.
“I urge you to be vigilant on the day of the election and at the end of the day Atta Mills and the NDC will go to the Castle”, he predicted amidst thunderous cheers from the crowd.
The NDC Presidential aspirant also pledged to establish a University of Renewable Resources in the Brong Ahafo Region when voted into power, and promised the people that when he became the President on January 7, 2009, Brong Ahafo would be the region he would visit first.
Alhaji Collins Dauda, the incumbent Member of Parliament and NDC Parliamentary aspirant for Asutifi South, for his part urged the people to reciprocate the good works the NDC did for the region during the NDC regime by voting the party into power on December 7.
He said it was under the NDC that the region witnessed massive infrastructural development in terms of roads, potable water, the construction of a regional hospital, the Cocoa House and the connection of the region to the national grid, which opened up the region to the rest of the country.
“I therefore urge you to reciprocate and vote massively for the NDC to continue with the development of the region,” he stressed.
Madam Ama Benyiwa-Doe, the National Women’s Organiser of the NDC, for her part said the NPP had deceived Ghanaians, and therefore urged the people to reject the NPP at the polls.
According to her, it was only nine per cent of basic schoolchildren who were benefiting from the much trumpeted school feeding programme introduced by the NPP government, and that it did not cover all schoolchildren in the country.
Madam Benyiwa-Doe said during the NDC administration it piloted the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in the Eastern Region, and pledged that when the NDC is voted into power it would let Ghanaians pay the premium for the scheme once and for all and not every period when your membership expired under the scheme.
Mr John Owusu Agyeman, the Brong Ahafo Regional Chairman of the NDC, for his part urged Ghanaians to check their living conditions whether it was better under the NPP , urging the the people to vote out the NPP which had created economic hardships for the people.
The party's parliamentary candidates for Sunyani East and West, Messrs Justice Samuel Adjei and Nyamekye Maafo were intorduced to the crowd at the rally.