Prof. Atta Mills Is On The Lead

Without a muse of word the 2008 general election is on its way to become the most fiercely contested election in Ghana’s political history, and possibly a straight fight between the two giants; NDC and NPP. The unfounded counter accusations, suspicions, pettiness, maligning among others are making the road to the 7th December very interesting and exciting.

There have been several opinion pools from different angles of the country and the recent ones are pointing victory to the direction of the humble professor, the inventor of the “door-to-door campaign” Even though non of the pool results are showing a one-touch victory, it is a booster to the Professor’s campaign train and an indication of what to expect come 7th December. The recent pools by the NCC, CDD, Ben Ephson and the author of this article are giving a range of 41-43% to the NDC and 38-41% to the NPP, pointing to a possible run-off between these two giants. In conducting my survey, I adopted a simple and a cheap method but yet reliable which can be done by any one at any corner of the world. I phone six people each from the various regional capitals of the country, making it 60 unidentified people as my sample size with 5% margin of error. All that is needed is the regional phone codes and dial any number of your choice; the phone directory will be of help (from Ghana Embassy/high commission). The question I put across was DO YOU THINK THAT WE NEED A CHANGE IN GOVERNMENT OR TO RETAIN THE RULLING PARTY? AND IF YES WHAT PARTY IS THE BEST ALTERNATIVE. 28 votes with 5% margin of error representing 41.3% for the NDC, 37.6% for NPP, 11.5% for CPP, 6% undecided and 2.9% for PNC and DFP. I am edging every one who cares to give it a try!

These pool results are pointing to the fact that the ‘I CARE FOR YOU’ message through the door-to-door campaign is yielding a positive result. This reminds me of the mockery the NPP made about the Professor when he first invented the idea; they questioned the feasibility of the new campaign method, forgetting the assertion by ‘Prof’. Azuma Nelson that “you cannot be called a professor without nothing” Today all the parties have adopted the new campaign method, making the Prof. the pace setter of Ghana’s politics. He was the brain behind the national health insurance, a credit the ruling government has vow never to accord him, yet everyone in Ghana knows that he was first to introduced it on pilot bases at Techiman. Again it was through his wisdom that Ghana is enjoying GetFund and VAT which is the main stream of domestic revenue mobilization today. His contribution to the judiciary service as a law lecturer and tax consultant for IMF makes him stand tall among his competitors. In fact I have been struggling to identify just a single personal contribution of Nana Akufo-Addo to the development of this country, apart from leading a series of demonstrations against the then ruling government which resulted in lost of many souls.

The cry and worries of the ordinary Ghanaians on the street points to the fact that, they needed a change, not only in person but in government as a whole. A change Ghanaians can believe in, a change that will put three square meal on the table of the ordinary Ghanaian, a change that will secure our future, a change that will bring back smiles on our faces, a change that will make our homes and street save and a change that will care for us. And that change is Prof. Atta Mills! After the humble giant President Kuffour, leading Ghana to this level, we cannot afford to entrust the affairs of this country into the hands of any arrogant. Someone who sees himself above all, someone who does not understand the suffering of ordinary person on the street, someone who has spent all his life time developing his personal interest in neglect of the country he is seeking to rule, and someone who will only smile, shake hands and hug his fellow Ghanaian after getting the mandate to lead his party for the sake of vote. Thank God Ghanaians are wide awake. I dare anyone who disputes this claim to paste just a single picture of Nana Addo smiling before the NPP congress on this website for all to see.

The high turn out of the ongoing voters registration manifest to the fact that Ghanaian are fed up with NPP administration and thus no one want to be left out in sending the Elephant into the bush. Thank God it has turn into the Kangaroo to move faster into the bush. Another reason that can be assigned to the high turn out of the voters’ registration is the lucrative nature of being an NPP delegate in their just-ended congresses. It pays to be NPP delegate than to be called a bank manager, a party which struggled to raise money for election just eight years ago, can today dash dollars at their congress, oh poor tax payers!

Ladies and Gentlemen: especially those who just turn 18 year/first time voters who did not experience the era where people have to queue for common bread. Sugar, milk, Milo and others were reserved for the rich. An era where people use to buy uncooked kenkey before it is cooked, no wonder kenkey became the target of armed robbers those days. That was the era Nana Addo and his team Fines it unhealthy to leave in the country, but through scarifies and toil of the ex-president and his team, that situation became history. Yet NPP spin doctors always portray their tenure of office as if Ghana be¬gan at their era.

Before I take a leave of you, let me add my voice to the sale of the Ghana Telecom to the Vodafone UK. In fact, as an individual, I support the move more than 100%, and even wish the government will sell all the shares to the Vodafone company. My reasons are simple, I look at the benefit I will derived as an individual (good service) and the benefit as a Ghanaian. If the company is fully owned by foreigners and gives me the best service at an affordable price its better to me than being owned by Ghanaians and give me poor services. Also, if the company is owned by foreigners but pays the required taxes, loyalties and so on to the government for the development of the country, it is better than being owned by the state and gains nothing. A typical example is the Ashanti Gold which is paying so much to the government today than when it was fully owned by the state. Let’s put our political differences aside and put mother Ghana first. It will interest you to know the funny characters of our politicians who only criticize to gain political point, the party who condemned the sales of the AGC to the foreigners is today defending a similar move while those who defended it during their tenure of office is condemning it today. What a double standard of our politicians, and will appeal to all Ghanaians to support the sale of the GT to the Vodafone UK.

In conclusion, I will plead with all Ghanaians to vote massively for Prof. Atta Mills since he is the only aspirant who has what it take to see our mother Ghana rocking shoulders with the western countries.

MOKO AYA KONI MO KPAKPA ABA!!!!!!!!! NPP… AME GBENAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!! Prof. ALL THE WAY

Paul Parker-Atitsogbui