ELECTION 2004 MAY be several weeks away, but the flag bearer of the main opposition, National Democratic Congress Party (NDC), Prof. J.E.A Mills, seems to have shot himself into the hearts of the Western Region, ahead of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) with his recent six-day tour to the region.
In an exclusive interview with this paper on Tuesday, Mr. Seth Ofori, the Press secretary to Mills Campaign Team, said the positive interaction with the chiefs and people in the region gave clear indications that ?Prof. Mills is on his way back to the Castle to put sanity into the economy of this country?.
Mr Ofori, who accompanied the former law lecturer on his western foray, intimated that ?clearly a majority of the people has seen the difference between the NDC and the NPP and the truth that Prof. Mills speaks all the time?.
?The lives of the people themselves bear testimony to the fact that the promises that Kufuor and his NPP people gave them in 2000 were clear deceit?, he noted.
According to him the people in the Western Region felt that things have become difficult and that life was far better under NDC and are as such clamouring for the party and its flag bearer Atta Mills to come back to power.
He said the people are disappointed with the present deteriorating standard of living with its accompanying high utility bills, mass unemployment, poor health delivery system as well as high cost of education.
?Prof. Mills was clear to them that his government, for example would tackle agric mechanization, ensure that social amenities would be affordable and make sure that productivity went up to raise the current employment level in the country?.
He said during a series of positive interactions with a cross section of the people on a wide range of issues, the people perfectly appreciated the new vision of Prof. J.E Mills and that there was no doubt at all that they would endorse his presidency overwhelmingly.
Earlier at a press conference, a member of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the NDC and a member of the Mills campaign team, Mr. Daniel Ohene Agyekum, had said that Prof. Mills? tour to the Western region offered him the opportunity to have a good interaction with the chiefs and people in all the places visited, adding that it was very reassuring to see the crowds who came out to meet the Professor.
He said even more reassuring was the evidence that the NDC, as a party, was alive and kicking all over the region and that it was evident throughout that times are ?rough for the people with a lot of hardships, adding that the people themselves said living conditions have ?become worse under the NPP government?.
He reported that Prof. Mills reassured the people of a better Ghana under his administration, noting that the NDC would be more sensitive to their plight and suffering than the Kufuor administration has been, more compassionate and caring to their needs.
