Richard Kofi Attenkah
13 January 2009
Tema — Residents in the Tema Metropolis have expressed their views on how they expect the newly-elected president of Ghana, in the just-ended December 7 2008 general elections, Professor John Evans Atta Mills, to run the affairs of the country.
Speaking to the paper, in separate interviews to sample their expectations of the new president, it was very clear that most residents in the Metropolis did not have any problem with Prof. Mills, but their greatest fear was that ex-president Jerry John Rawlings could try to influence his decisions.
A resident of Community Eight (8), Philip Bondzie, who is also a first year student of the Ghana Telecom University College, told this reporter that he thought Ghanaians made the right decision by voting for President Mills, because he was the best man to manage the affairs of the state at this crucial time, when the economy was drastically falling.
According to him, the new President would leave nothing to chance, or allow ex-president Rawlings to try and manipulate his decisions, adding "There is no way that a learned person like Atta Mills will listen to him."
Ms Nadia Ghamson, who owns a Unisex Boutique at the Community 8 market, expressed delight in the fact that President Mills won the elections, adding that even though the task ahead was not going to be easy, she was confident that his health would not be a hindrance in the performance of his duties.
She called on Nana Akufo Addo, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer, to accept whatever position the new President may offer him, since they were all seeking to move the country forward in their manifestoes, adding that he should not regard himself as a loser, but rather a winner, and assist President Mills in any way he could.
A resident of Community Four (4), Madam Rose Arthur, who is a housewife, also disclosed that it was only God who installed a king, so if Atta Mills has won, then it was certainly the will of God for him to be President at this time. She said that she expected the new President to enforce the principle of the Rule of Law, especially the arm of Equality before the Law, since that was the most important ingredient in moving the country towards its desired location in development.
She, however, attributed the defeat of the NPP government, in the last elections, to the fact that they lived in deception, thinking that everybody was living in comfort as they were, instead of coming down to the level of the citizens, listening to their plights, and solving their problems.
Opanin Asare, who is a retired Engineering Technologist and resides in Community One (1), stated that he expected nothing but only super progressiveness from the Mills administration, and that he was certain Prof. Mills would not let Ghanaians down.
He also appealed to the President to create more jobs, also to take a critical look at the energy sector of the country, and not forgetting the welfare of the people, since they voted him into office.
A Ghanaian-born British citizen, who has come down for the festive season, Mrs. Elsie Applegate, called on the new President to make sure that he is able to match up to the standards which had been set by the NPP government before leaving office, since people had really put all their hopes in him.
According to her, there were no problems in the country, rather the people were the problems themselves, since they always criticised the good works of any government that comes to power. "National Orientation is continual; somebody must always start for someone else to continue," she noted.
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