Kwabena Amankwah , 20/06/2008
The Presidential Candidate of the opposition National Democratic Congress, John Evans Atta Mills, Wednesday admitted that the mistakes he made while serving in the NDC Government as the Vice President were due to his poor sense of judgment of people.
"I was not a good judge of people when I was in Government,” the Law Professor stated when he took his turn on “The Evening Encounter with Presidential Candidates,” an interactive programme initiated by the Institute of Economic Affairs, under the auspices of the Ghana Political Parties Programme.
Prof Mills was responding to a question about the mistakes he made whiles in government.
When he was reminded of the fact that it would not be prudent to entrust the destinies of over 20 million Ghanaians into the hands of somebody with a flawed sense of judgment, the NDC flag bearer was, however, quick to assure, “I was a bad judge of people when I was in Government, but now I'm not.”
Even though the nation's economy was rendered almost comatose under his watch as the Chairman of the National Economic Management Team, in addition to allowing an American 'businesswoman,’ Juliet Cotton, to walk away with a huge amount of state- guaranteed loans secured for a rice project, Prof Mills insisted that he resorted to “prudent fiscal” measures in handling the economy, adding that he would apply the same measure if he ascended the nation’s presidency.
Prof Mills, who used much of his time to castigate the Kufuor administration, made a lot of promises which some analysts have described as "too lofty and overly ambitious," wondering how somebody who is seeking to rule the nation could make such promises without giving any indication of concrete measures to raise the needed funds to fulfill them.
He promised to provide potable water for all Ghanaians, insisting that "a caring government will not look on unconcerned while people suffer water shortages."
Others include solving the problem of slums being developed in the city; embarking on an irrigation project in the Accra Plains; expanding the school feeding programme to cover all basic schools; providing free uniforms for basic school pupils; expanding access to secondary education and working to progressively make it free; reviewing the National Health Insurance Scheme "to make it more national"; establishing a factory in the Western Region to produce fertilizer; fighting crime and corruption; and restoring the morale of the Police Service.
But, speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show yesterday, Abu Sasraku Foster, a CPP guru, could not understand why Prof Mills could make such promises without providing practical measures to translate them into reality.
Views sampled among some of the electorate across the country indicate that they were not convinced about the sincerity of Prof Mill’s promises.
"This is a man who had the opportunity to serve the nation as the Vice President and also headed the National Economic Management Team. What legacy did he leave to convince us that he will be able to manage the affairs of the nation, if he is given the mandate?" Dennis Kwakwa, a youth opinion leader wondered.
Meanwhile, the Executive Director of the Danquah Institute, Asare "Gabby" Otchere- Darko, has urged the NDC flag bearer to "take Ghanaians serious if he wants to be taken serious."
Commenting on Prof Mills’ presentation on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show programme yesterday, the former Editor-in-Chief of The Statesman observed, "It was the typical run of Mills sort of thing - bash NPP small, praise the PNDC and NDC, give promises, to deceive himself that he can ride on them to power, without telling the people how to pay for the promises."
In the words of Mr Otchere-Darko, "it is not just enough to make such promises; we can all make promises, but you have to cost the promises and tell the people how practical they are if you want them to take you serious."
Spokesperson for the NDC flag bearer, Mahama Ayariga, however, insisted that Prof Mills was sincere about all the promises he made, and that bringing them into reality was not an impossibility.
The MP for Bawku Central yesterday told listeners of Joy FM’s Super Morning Show that a clear-cut plan to fulfill all the promises had been clearly spelt out, and had been indicated by Prof Mills in some of his previous presentations. Mr Ayariga however, failed to add anything concrete to the promises made by his party leader.
