I Don't Carry Water - Angry Mills Charges

Sounding angry, robust and cheeky, President John Evans Atta Mills yesterday asked whether he is carrying water on his head, when asked about the oft-stated perception that his presidency is slow at providing amenities and implementing policies.

BBC's Bilkis Labaran, his host in yesterday's interview, asked him to react to the charge that he was slow in his presidential assignments, to which he cheekily retorted whether this was a suggestion that he was slow at sending people to jail, adding rather defiantly that he had no apologies for such slowness and would not send people to jail without due process.

If anybody thought he was slow at putting people in jail, he said, "I have no apologies", explaining that as a lawyer, he believed in having investigations conducted rather than arbitrarily jailing individuals.

However, the question about his slowness was in regard to providing relief for Ghanaians including the provision of water. President Mills' host appeared to have put him on edge when she touched on the issue of the increased tariffs on basic amenities like water and others, as he dumped the causes of the hikes on the corridors of the previous government. "Are they suggesting that I am moving at 90mph instead of 10mph? If water had been available when they were in power, we would not have been concerned with this today".

The President, in defence of the recent increases in utility tariffs, said 40-year-old pipes which needed replacements did not receive attention during Kufuor's tenure, saddling his government today with fresh challenges.

"What did they do in the eight years that they were in power?" he huffed. Continuing to lash at former President Kufuor, he asked what the former Head of State did about the West Africa Gas Pipeline Project when he was in charge of the country for eight years.

In direct reference to the erstwhile government, he charged, "They have no moral right in criticizing me for what they could not do, unwilling to do or neglected to do", adding however that he was ready to accept criticisms when these were constructive.

The criticisms he was being subjected to, he noted, were occupational hazards, pointing out that as a former teacher, he was used to containing all manner of such queries. "Having been a university lecturer for 25 years, I should expect criticisms. If all people say that you are doing well, you must be skeptical. Some are gaping sycophant," he said.

For those who will entertained doubts about President Mills' availability as a 2012 candidate, he duly dispelled this during the interview when he declared he would definitely stand.

He needed another term, he said, to complete the work he had started, putting paid to the doubts which made the rounds earlier. "Clearly four years is not enough. We need another term to see our vision achieved. It's only fair and proper that we continue," he said.

Football fans in Ghana would have to search for alternative power for their television sets ahead of the World Cup because the nation's power suppliers could not guarantee an uninterrupted electricity supply. Resident had endured a rather painful erratic power supply and hope to get a windfall during the frenzy World Cup season. However, Mills told the BBC he could not guarantee a constant power supply.