Did you see anything in NPP's eight years'? - Mills asks

In what appears to be a response to the incessant calls and pressure on his two years old Government to deliver on its promises, President Mills has questioned Ghanaians what they saw in the eight years regime of the New Patriotic Party.


The President, who was addressing the 50th Anniversary celebration of the Upper East Region on Saturday November 6, said unlike the previous administration, the NDC will ensure that Ghanaians “see something”.



Speaking about the commercial drilling of oil which is slated to commence in early December 2010, President Mills cautioned Ghanaians to manage their expectations since it will take some time for the oil revenue to accumulate for the necessary development projects.



“In a few weeks, our first oil will come out. But let me set the records straight. At the beginning, the oil will come in bits and things are not going to materialize overnight. I know that the expectations are high and there are people who think that come November or December, Ghana will be awashed with oil resources. My brothers and sisters, this is not the case. We have to go gingerly. It will take us sometime to be able to get the oil revenue which we are going to use in the productive sectors of the economy” he assured.



“We came to meet an economy that was not strong and had difficulties. And a lot of people have complained over the past two years, we are not seeing anything. I ask them, did they see anything in the previous eight years?



We are determined that you should see something but we would have to remove all the bottlenecks and the burden that we inherited. Thank God we are making headway. But we would not want to deceive you. Judging from the work that we have done from the resources that have been given to us, I know that we would be able to make a difference” he said.



The President said his administration will make good use of the commitments made by international partners such as China and Japan to pump adequate resources into the Ghanaian economy.



Citing recent concerns of growing insecurity following reports of an alleged mass rape and robbery incident in a Tamale-bound bus, President Mills vowed not to allow instability to derail the proper use of such resources in developing the nation.



“I Atta Mills will not sit down and allow a situation that is going to retard the progress that we are going to make as a nation” he said.



Professor Mills appealed for unity to move the country forward and deliver her people from the shackles of poverty.



Blaming the Kufuor administration for the woes of the Tema Oil Refinery, President Mills expressed concern about reports that some unscrupulous persons were smuggling petroleum products out of the country.



“It has also come to my knowledge that in certain parts of the country including the Upper East, petroleum products are being smuggled out of the country. This practice is imposing a severe burden on the Tema Oil Refinery which is already saddled with debts that were bequeathed to us by the previous administration which we are grappling to be able to settle.



The TOR debt is not an easy thing to resolve and I will appeal to our compatriots that together we have to think of how we can remove this debt and give TOR the freedom and the ability to be able to stand on its feet and meet our demands”