Demand for politicians to account for stewardship not harassment-Mills

Ho, April 18, GNA-President John Evans Atta Mills has observed that demands on politicians to account for stewardship at the close of tenure of office could not be tantamount to harassment. He said politicians owed a duty to the people to render accounts of their rule when the day of reckoning arrived. President Mills was addressing a durbar of chiefs and people of the Volta Region on Saturday in Ho.

He repeated his often stated pledge of transparent governance with the canon that all were equal before the law and that no one would be shielded when he broke the law. President Mills, who said Volta Region was his second home, promised he would not take the "en-block support" his National Democratic Congress (NDC) enjoyed in the region for granted. "Your love and support would not be taken for granted and your concerns would be met," he told the ecstatic crowd which yelled back slogans of support.

President Mills, resplendent in kente over a white top, praised Togbe Afede XIV, Agbogbome Fia of the Asogli and President of the Volta Regional House of Chiefs for accepting to work in the transitional team. He said that job was for Togbe Afede a call to national duty and in no way made him a politician. Togbe Afede hoped President Mills "would begin to make Ghana a different kind of black African country; one that would give hope to and serve as an example for others, none of which had made it yet to the ranks of the developed world". He said governance was a shared effort and announced a 250 million US dollar Volta Development Plan, 2009-2014 "to guide our efforts to bring development to the region."

Mr Joseph Amenowode Regional Minister said Volta Region was expecting the roads and other infrastructure projects as manifest promises to be delivered.

Mr Alexander Asum-Ahensah, Minister of Chieftaincy and Culture promised to work with the chiefs to stem chieftaincy disputes. The pageantry, conviviality among the huge crowd enveloping the venue, the motley colours of umbrella under which the chiefs paraded and their staff overwhelmed the speeches to make the durbar perhaps party time in Volta Region for the NDC.

President Mills before the durbar inspected progress of work on projects at the Nurses College Complex and Mawuli School, both in Ho. He also drove on the Ho-Fume road currently under construction and stopped at Dzolukpuita, in the Ho Municipal area for a briefing by the consultants and contractors on the job. At the Nurses School Complex, President Mills said the Volta Regional Coordinating Council (VRCC) would liaise with those on the job to trash out problems delaying the project. At Dzolokpuita, President Mills said government would do all it could to have the Ho-Fume road completed.

Mr Joe Gidisu, Minister of Roads and Highways complained about the incessant variations in cost during execution of projects. He said government was committed to executing the original road project there which stretched from Sogakope-Adidome-Ho, ending at Fume. President Mills would attend a non-denominational Church service in Ho on Sunday to end his three-day visit. 18 April 09