President Mills. President Mills. Delivering On Your Promises: social Contract with the people of Ghana. Ghana IEA THE INSTITUTE OF ECONOMIC AFFAIRS

Transcription

1 Delivering On Your Promises: IEA Ghana THE INSTITUTE OF ECONOMIC AFFAIRS A Public Policy Institute President Mills social Contract with the people of Ghana President Mills

2 THE INSTITUTE OF ECONOMIC AFFAIRS IEA GHANA Delivering On Your Promises: President Mills Social Contract with the People of Ghana Commitments of President Mills during the 2008 Presidential Debates and Evening Encounter An Institute of Economic Affairs / Ghana Political Parties Programme Publication I

3 The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), Ghana, was founded in October 1989 as an independent, public policy institute dedicated to the establishment and strengthening of a market economy and a democratic, free and open society. It considers improvements in the legal, social and political institutions as necessary conditions for sustainable economic growth and human development. The IEA supports research and promotes and publishes studies on important economic, socio-political and legal issues in order to enhance the understanding of public policy. Further information may be obtained from the Publication Officer: The Institute of Economic Affairs P.O.Box OS 1936, Osu Accra, Ghana Tel: / Fax: iea@ieagh.org ISBN: ISSN: Copyright by The Institute of Economic Affairs Printed in Ghana. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be published, used or reproduced in any manner without written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations in critical articles and reviews. Publication of this work signifies that The Institute of Economic Affairs regards it as a competent treatment worthy of public consideration. The findings, interpretations and conclusions of this paper are entirely those of the authors, and should not be attributed to the Institute of Economic Affairs or any organisations that support it. II

4 CONTENTS Preface 1. An Evening Encounter with President Mills 1 2. Presidential Debate, Accra Presidential Debate, Tamale 44 Index of Issues 60 III

5 PREFACE The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) Ghana, seeks to promote the consolidation of democracy and good governance in Ghana and West Africa. The IEA works at this through national and sub-regional programmes of advocacy for democracy in economic and political governance. Over twenty years, The IEA has initiated far-reaching processes of multi party democracy in Ghana, and carried out events of national cohesion and political accommodation and accountability. Since the year 2000, The IEA has organised Presidential Election Debates ahead of each of the nation s Presidential Elections. In each election year, these debates have provided Presidential candidates a platform on which to debate the policies and programmes that they believe will best serve the national interest. The Presidential Election Debates are gradually instilling an issues-driven approach to Presidential campaigns. The debates offer the electorate information on the policy direction of each Presidential candidate s manifesto, with which to make informed choices. The IEA has created yet another platform to enhance the development of an issues-driven approach to national elections and the establishment of accountable leadership in Ghana. This is the Evening Encounter Series, which was initiated in the year The Evening Encounters concept differs from that of the Presidential Debates, in that while the focus of the Debates is the interaction between Presidential candidates, the focus of the Encounters is the interaction between candidates and the electorate. These Encounters offered the four Presidential candidates, whose political parties had representation in Parliament, an evening each of interaction with a cross section of interest groups. By providing a public forum in which each of the candidates can present their policies and be challenged by both the other candidates and members of the public, both the Evening Enounter series and the Debates serve to enhance the level of accountability demanded from Ghana s potential IV

6 leaders. This is particularly important with respect to the candidate who subsequently goes on to win the election. This publication provides a transcript of President Mill s (candidate Mills as he then was) presentation and responses at the Evening Encounter held on 26 June 2008 as well as at the Accra and Tamale Presidential Debates held on 29 October 2008 and 12 November 2008 respectively. The IEA has also published transcripts of each of the Debates and each of the Evening Encounters of the other candidates separately. This combined publication focusing on President Mills recognises that the commitments that he made at each of the events constitute a contract that he and his Administration made with the Ghanaian people in exchange for their support. By publishing the transcript of these events it is hoped that the terms of this contract are not readily forgotten and that the public continues to demand public accountability from its present leader. While this publication contains three distinct sections based on each of the events, it includes an index at the end of the document to assist readers to identify President Mills comments on various subject matters. We hope that you find this publication useful. Thank you. Jean Mensa Executive Director V

7 1. AN EVENING ENCOUNTER WITH PRESIDENT MILLS (insert picture - to be provided) Candidate Mills delivering his presentation at his Evening Encounter Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, I dedicate this presentation to my good friend and colleague Mr. Tsatsu Tsikata. I speak today with the aim that if anybody thought that jailing Tsatsu was going to lower my resolve, and dampen my spirits, they were wrong. I am going to go on. I am grateful to The IEA for giving me this platform to present myself and the vision of the NDC for a better Ghana when we assume office in January We know, ladies and gentlemen, that Ghanaians are at this time concerned about the future of our country. They are worried about the harsh living conditions; they are also worried about the upsurge in crime and of course the dramatic growth in narcotic trading in this country. I share their concerns and as I go along, I will tell you how we intend to assure them that the future will be better. There are some who argue that the election should be based on a comparison of the records of the various political parties and their candidates. We have no problems with this because we feel that if this comparison is fairly done the NDC will come out tops. And we are also certain that we will perform even better when we assume the reigns of government in January

8 My distinguished ladies and gentlemen, who here can deny that the election is about the leadership and qualities that the Presidential candidate will bring to bear on the state of affairs of this country? Who can tell me that leadership, character and decency are mutually exclusive? It is not for nothing that our electoral rules insist that the parties indicate who is going to be their Presidential candidate before the elections are held. Otherwise they would just ask the parties to go for elections and after the elections they will decide on who is going to be the leader of the party. I bring to the table my core values of truth, honesty and humility. I will lead a government that is decent, truthful, honest and caring, to mend the broken trust between elected officials and the people of this country. Due to political partisanship over the years, our country has become polarised. Indeed, if you do not belong to the ruling party, you are discriminated against. Let me say this, I Atta Mills will be President not only of the NDC but of all the people of Ghana. Once the elections are over we should all be united in a common cause with a common objective. There is no need to make any distinction. Ladies and gentlemen, I have said before that this country is not short of blueprints and plans for development. The problem is with implementation, which is easily traceable to leadership. Sometimes we lack the political will. There are instances where we have beautiful promises but we over-state the successes. Sometimes, even before policies are implemented or before they finish the implementation, government ministers rush to announce successes just to score cheap political points. Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, good governance means fairness. Indeed leadership must strive for the common good. I will not rig the economy to benefit my relations, my family, my close friends and members of my party. Indeed those of us who subscribe to the social democracy theory believe that it is the responsibility of the government to take care of those who are underprivileged and marginalised because as you can see these fingers are not equal and we believe that we should be each other s keeper. Those on the other side also insist that it should be the survival of the fittest. They say we should have each man for himself and God for us all. We 2

9 consider this unacceptable. Even more unacceptable to us, is the statement that it is each man for himself and God for us, the selective few. My brothers and sisters, fairness is being gradually lost in our society. When we were in power, we implemented a policy where, if there were funds in the Road Fund, we would equally distribute them to contractors whom we owed so that they could keep their businesses on the road. That was fairness. What do we see now? The discrimination that is going on in our society! Distinguished ladies and gentlemen; it is my candid view that government should be a tool in the service of the people. It should not be an instrument to aid people to loot state coffers or acquire illegal wealth. That is why I have said and repeat that Atta Mills will crack the whip when any of my appointees crosses the line or does anything that smacks of illegality and corruption. Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, good governance also means that the government must be alive to its responsibilities. The government must solve ordinary problems confronting the people; the government must be interested in the welfare of people and what it s going to achieve will inure to the common good. We have some problems in this country. Water is a rare commodity. You are lucky if water runs through your tap continuously for one week. It will be a miracle. Electricity supply is as erratic as ever and yet nobody seems to be doing anything. It is pathetic to see children and women walk long distances to fetch water. A government that is caring must be interested in solving these many problems. There are other matters of concern. When you go round our country especially in the cities, you see structures springing up. They are developing urban slums. Do we have structural or zoning laws? If we do are we enforcing them? And I will suggest that we involve the transport sector to synchronise our activities. My brothers and sisters, the global economic crisis is causing additional hardship for the people of this country and any government must be interested in this. The India example is worth looking at where austerity 3

10 measures were taken. Indeed, it has been announced that ministers should avoid expensive expenditures. They should avoid foreign air travel; they should avoid meetings in five star hotels and cut down expenditures. This is a government which is interested in taking austerity measures to solve a problem. My brothers and sisters, another problem of great concern to many Ghanaians is the upsurge in crime. Many of our colleagues have harrowing stories of being victims of criminals, especially armed robbers, and yet I am told that the police records show that crime is on the decrease. Well it may be so but my own suspicion is that many victims have lost confidence in the ability and willingness of authorities to solve the problem and therefore they do not bother to report. Atta Mills government will make sure that we bring together experts of all political shades, for after all, when criminals want to attack you they do not ask whether you are NDC, NPP, DFP or whatever you are. We will tap the expertise in order to come out with strategies to deal with this particular problem. Indeed, we will revive the regional partnership in intelligence gathering, which we initiated when we were in power, which enabled us to solve many cross-border criminal problems. Ladies and gentlemen, the police should be in the front line of the fight against crime. But indeed, they themselves are in serious need of revival and restoration. I promise you our government will initiate measures to ensure that we restore morale and confidence in the police service. Need I talk about the dramatic growth in narcotics trading in and through Ghana? Ghana is fast losing our hard-earned reputation because of the activities of drug barons who, because of the economic power that they wield, succeed in compromising the individuals and authorities who should be enforcing our laws. Is it any wonder that the many probes that we have had have not yielded any positive results? Indeed, the perception out there is that the NPP government has created an atmosphere which allows drug barons to go scot free and sometimes even be welcome. I am concerned about the drug problem because of the correlation between drug use and crime. I am also worried about the effect on health especially 4

11 HIV/AIDS. Indeed, about a week ago Dr. Asare, the Chief Psychiatrist at the Mental Hospital gave an interview to the VOA in which he talked about the monumental levels to which drug use has reached in our country. And indeed, he also went on to talk about his concern about the effects of drug use on our human resource base. Atta Mills government will cooperate with the appropriate agencies, both local and foreign, to stamp out the drug trade. As I said not too long ago, Atta Mills will not allow the drug barons to make Ghana a subsidiary of their activities. Ghana is a signatory to the UN laws on narcotics control especially the part that deals with seizure and forfeiture of assets of those convicted of dealing in narcotics. We shall faithfully and diligently follow our obligations, honour our obligations under these laws. And I can assure you that Atta Mills will be in no hurry to arrange for the exchange of these prisoners or their transfers from foreign jails where they are justifiably languishing in Ghanaian prisons. Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, I am sure you will want to have an idea as to some of the initiatives that we want to take when it comes to the economy, which obviously is what the whole thing is about. We will adopt a set of policies, which will ensure high economic growth. We will do this by anchoring it in an increase in domestic savings to support a high volume of investment in infrastructure. Our emphasis on infrastructure is deliberate. By so doing we will be facilitating industrial development, which will enable us to create jobs for our people. We will not be unmindful of the need to have macroeconomic stability. But we are not going to have macroeconomic stability for its own sake. We will want an environment that gives us the fiscal space to invest meaningfully in agriculture, in education, in housing, in health, among others. We shall also review the exemption scheme under our tax laws and also put in place measures that will enhance revenue collection. But ladies and gentlemen, we will also not hesitate in cutting out extravagance, filth and profligate expenditure in government. Now when it comes to agriculture, that, as I said, is going to be the backbone. A nation that cannot feed itself is a nation in distress. We have a situation where the average Ghanaian spends almost 70% of his income on food. Now with the rising prices he may be spending 80% of his income 5

12 on food. This is unacceptable. Atta Mills will want to begin a renaissance in agriculture. We will want, at the end of our term, to ensure that the Ghanaian spends much less on food. How do we intend to do this? We intend to double production of cereals and other staples and the cultivation of vegetables, fruits and even flowers. Indeed, ladies and gentlemen, there is no country in the world which has succeeded in agriculture without paying attention to one important ingredient; that is water. Unfortunately these days, due to climatic changes we cannot rely on rainfed agriculture. For this we are going to rehabilitate all the irrigation projects that we have in the country and even establish new ones in designated areas. But our flagship irrigation project is going to be the canalisation of the Accra Plains consisting of 178,000 hectares of land. I want to remind you, ladies and gentlemen, that this was indeed an important, but unimplemented programme of Kwame Nkrumah with regard to his Volta River Project. We shall also establish a factory to produce fertilizer in the Western Region using our gas reserves. Next, we are going to continue our agro afforestation, which we bequeathed to the NPP. This time round we are also going to encourage bamboo cultivation. Ladies and gentlemen, when it comes to poultry it is a very sad story. In 1992, 95% of the poultry consumed locally came from local sources. At the moment, due to the unbridled importation of poultry products, local poultry sources account for only 10%. The poultry industry is near collapse. We want to reverse this trend. We are going to impose tariffs and duties on imported poultry products and this can be done in accordance with WTO rules. We will also reduce the cost of poultry feed and finally help poultry farmers reactivate their businesses, through the establishment of a poultry sub-sector fund. When it comes to fishing, the activities of foreign fleet and trawling activities have indeed led to a situation where our fish stock is seriously depleted and where the livelihood of some of our fishermen is being adversely affected. We propose to reserve a 200-mile exclusive economic zone for purposes of conservation. This can be done under the new end law of the sea and during this period trawling will be monitored and regulated. Now when it comes to pre-mix fuel we will attempt to remove the bottlenecks associ- 6

13 ated with its production and distribution. And within that, the interest of fishermen will be best served if the pre-mix fuel is made the responsibility of our chief fishermen. Ladies and gentlemen, any country which ignores education does so at his own peril. Now let s look at pre-school and primary education. In this 21st century, it is unpardonable and unacceptable for children to acquire education under trees, dilapidated structures and life-threatening sub-structures. It is not good. We will take steps to rehabilitate these structures. We will also, in addition, extend the school feeding programme to cover all primary schools. We will, in addition, take seriously the de-worming exercise and also in cases where the people cannot afford school uniforms, we will give them standard school uniforms. Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, when it comes to secondary education I must say that the Prof. Anamuah Committee did a very professional job. But when it came to the level of political decision-making, the NPP government thought it was important to put its seal on the educational reform programme by tinkering with the component on secondary education. Now the tinkering indeed, appeared very petty in certain respects especially the change of name from Junior Secondary School to Junior High, Senior High. One will ask what will the NDC do? Are you going to reverse the decisions? The answer is no. We do not want education to be regarded as a football to be kicked around by parties in power. What we intend to is to convene a meeting with all the stakeholders and all political parties so we agree on the way forward. There is also the problem of access. At the moment only half of the people who qualify for secondary education gain access. In our time we were able to provide 250 secondary schools. In the 7 and half years of the NPP government they have provided only 15; we have a shortfall of 300. We need to do something about this. When it comes to the curriculum now in this globalised world, demand driven areas happen to be creative arts, French, Spanish, Sciences, etc. These subjects in addition to religious and moral education will be included in the curriculum and then emphasised. Indeed, the Constitution stipulates that education should be progressively free. We will take steps to ensure that over a period we are able to achieve some 7

14 degree of provision so that eventually we make secondary education free. When it comes to tertiary education, we are not in favour of cost recovery; we want cost sharing. And here, we think that needy but brilliant students must be assisted, and also students who study science, mathematics and technology must also be aided. Therefore we propose to set aside a portion of the GETFUND to aid such students. We also propose to expand accommodation and other facilities on the campuses. I will see to the request of NUGS to have a modern office complex and complete the campus for Ghana Institute for Journalism as well as get together with NUGS and stakeholders to review the students loans scheme. When it comes to health, it is our proposal to review the National Health Insurance Programme, which is one of the spin and propaganda the NPP government refused to do. We want to make it truly national. We also want to continue with the rehabilitation of our Teaching Hospitals and our Regional and District Hospitals. We also want to provide Koforidua, Wa and Bolga with modern district hospitals. We also want to procure diagnostic equipments for our Teaching Hospitals and for our medical profession. Ladies and gentlemen, we intend to bring about an innovation in the training of medical personnel; the physician assistant who will be below a fully fledged medical officer. We are also going to pay attention to the training of nurses and indeed auxiliary nurses. Regarding the issue of energy at the dialogue which was organised by the Kwame Nkrumah University at which I was represented by my runningmate, in whom I am well pleased, I gave a comprehensive outline of what we intend to do. In the medium term we intend to increase the energy situation from 1,600 megawatts to 5,000. We are going to rely on gas-fired energy, rather than oil fired energy, which will make sure that the cost of energy is low. It will enable VALCO not only to operate but it will also enable us to have an aluminium industry, which will indeed make use of our bauxite deposits; something which has been our dream since the First Republic. We also intend to expand the Osagyefo Barge and also to implement the Aboadze Steam Turbine hero. We are delighted that we have struck oil, but ladies and gentlemen, nobody can deny that this is a crown- 8

15 ing glory to the efforts by the GNPC under Tsatsu Tsikata who is now languishing in jail. And I believe that Tsatsu will take pride in the fact that through his selfless efforts this country has been blessed by the Almighty with oil reserves! Now let me say that we are going to account strictly for the revenue which will come from the oil and gas. We are going to have an independent allparty body to oversee the operation of this segment of our economy. We are not going to engage in profligate spending. We are going to make sure that we use the revenues for the benefit of our people. We want our oil discovery to be a blessing and not a curse. Ladies and gentlemen, the oil companies will be well advised, given the experience of other countries, to form meaningful partnerships with the communities in which they operate, especially with the fishermen, so they do not feel that their livelihood is being destroyed by the operation of these companies. Ladies and gentlemen, when it comes to renewable energy, we have wind energy, which is a result of research done during our time by the Energy Commission. And indeed we are told that we can get about 5,200 megawatts using wind energy. With solar energy, we will go ahead to exploit it, and indeed it is possible for us to have hydro schemes on Tano, Pra, Ankobra, and Gwollu. Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, what is the future picture? There are some who will say that our ideas are big; others will say they are too simple. There are those who are going to ask how are you going to fund these schemes? Let me tell you, if we cut out the excessive spending, that will be first step in a journey of a hundred or a million miles. There are those of our sceptics who will say you cannot eradicate poverty in this country. Poverty, like corruption started from the time of Adam. But let me say ladies and gentlemen, it is ironical that in seven and a half years, some elected officials who were wallowing in poverty have been able to get out of it and yet they tell us that it is too short a period for us to be able to do something about eradication of poverty. Ladies and gentlemen, Atta Mills will want to have a society where every 9

16 child of school-going age has the ability to do so; where women are going to be empowered to take their rightful place in society; where Ghana will be the financial hub of the sub-region; where food will be in abundance; where we shall be each other s keeper; where we will not be fighting among ourselves. Atta Mills will want to head a government which is caring, which is honest and which is accountable. Kwame Nkrumah had a creative spirit, that is why he was able to achieve so much. Former President Rawlings in whose government I was privileged to serve, had big ideas and courage. It is no wonder, therefore, that under his watch we were able to extend electricity to the northern parts of our country even though people were told that it was impracticable to do so. Atta Mills believes that with the right kind of leadership which is not vindictive, which is forward looking, which has a common objective, we should be able to attain our objectives as a nation. Atta Mills will want to be remembered as the leader during whose period of stewardship the people of Ghana did what was pleasing in the sight of God. May the Good Lord Himself shower our nation with His blessings! Thank you very much. 10

17 QUESTION AND ANSWER SECTION Matilda Asante, JOY FM: In making your presentation Prof, you did talk about the fact that you will crack the whip on members of your government who will go wrong. It was your government that passed the law on causing financial loss to the state, and yet at the start of your statement, you said you were sad that Tsatsu Tsikata had been jailed. Were you sad because the law you passed had been applied, or because you thought that he was unjustly sentenced? I had the privilege of going to court on a number of occasions, and listened to the proceedings. I am also a lawyer; I was there when that law was passed. And I must say that I was taken aback by the judgement. I thought that Tsatsu had done the best that he could. Rather than throwing him into jail, I genuinely believe that he deserves our honour; somebody who rendered selfless and dedicated service to our nation. Tsatsu has no property to his name, he has nothing. And if you serve a nation that does not honour its heroes, you will think twice about making any sacrifices. But this will be my statement. At the appropriate time I will come out fully. But I know the good Lord is going to be Tsatsu s judge. Question via text message from Sena, Volta Region: Prof Mills, you spoke about agriculture and how you wanted to double cereal, fruit and vegetable production. You didn t tell us exactly how you plan to do that. When it comes to agriculture, one of the main ingredients is water. If you have been engaged in agriculture, you will know this. The way we are going to do this is through irrigation. I believe therefore that with the investment in infrastructure that we are going to have, and the particular attention that we are going to pay to agriculture, not lip service, we think that we should be able to do this. I told you about the Accra Plains. Where 11

18 you have regular supply of water, where you have fertilizer and where you have the commitment and dedication, I don t think that there is anything that you cannot achieve. Other countries have achieved their objectives; why can t we as a nation? Indeed, let me tell you it was done some time ago. You were all witnesses in the 1970s where through Operation Feed Yourself, we were at least able to increase agriculture production. I am not saying that we should liken what we intend to do to this, but I am saying that where there is a will, there is a way. Amos Safo, The Public Agenda newspaper: Still on the Tsatsu case, what will you do regarding the law on Causing Financial Loss to the State? Will you consider repealing it? It will remain on the statutes books until we, as a party or government, think otherwise. But I believe that it is not a question of the law being in the statutes books. There are so many laws; it is a question of interpreting it. This is where I have a problem with this. It is not the law per se. How do you interpret it? And I believe that in this particular case, it has been a great miscarriage of justice to Tsatsu. Dr. Sodzi Sodzi-Tettey, Ghana Medical Association: The Ghana Medical Association is concerned about the state of mental healthcare in the country, aspects of which are a spin-off of the narcotic drug trade. There are records of increasing incidence of narcotic use in secondary schools. We have a severe shortage of staff in the Psychiatry Hospitals and a handful of doctors and nurses. Generally it is something that requires attention. For over three years, we ve had the Mental Health Bill, which has still not been passed. What are the plans of the NDC, as far as reforming the state of mental health care is concerned? I wish you had said that the years in which NDC was in power. If it hadn t been passed, then you know where to lay the blame. But that is one reason why I am worried about the narcotics trade. It is the effect it has on our 12

19 youth, who are the future. Here we are, we now have to find additional resources to ensure that we are able to control the harmful effects of drug use. We have no option but to prevail on parliament so they can go ahead and look at the bill and pass it into law. Whatever resources we have, we also have to look at the state of mental health in our country and see what we can do. I mean it is the responsibility of our government. If we have not been vigilant enough; if we have allowed drug use in our country; if we have opened our doors; the least that we can do for our youth is to redeem them from the pits into which they have fallen. Mr. Kwesi Jonah, University of Ghana: What the professor has told us this evening is very interesting. But if you want what interests me, it is about what he refused, or failed, to say. We have not heard one word about private sector development; we have not heard one word about corruption. Finally, regarding what you said about irrigating the Accra Plains, I want to find out from you whether you are aware of those research findings that say that large scale irrigation schemes do not work in developing countries. Thank you. I hope you are not implying that they work elsewhere, but not in developing countries. Mr. Kwesi Jonah, as I was speaking they passed a note to me. They were telling me that my time was up. In 25 minutes you cannot cover every subject. I believe that when our manifesto is published, many of these areas will be covered. But let me say that when I appeared before the AGI I had the opportunity to discuss with them private sector development and to look at their concerns. On corruption, I believe that you ve heard me speak time and again about corruption. We are told that we have the institutions to check corruption. If indeed we have them, we must give them their independence and resource them to be able to do their work and when they come out with their findings we must not only bark, we must bite. We must show that corruption is indeed inimical to the interest of our country. 13

20 Prof. Takyiwaa Manu, University of Ghana: Prof, you are speaking on a topic that is dear to both of us; education. You mentioned that there was a problem with access and you mentioned that under your leadership all students who qualify in science and technology will be given scholarships. First of all, the National Council for Tertiary Education has a mix between science and arts in our universities. That is what we are supposed to do to as a developing country; to have 60% of science students and 40% arts students. Prof Adarkwa, the Vice Chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University says that even if we were to admit all the science students that qualify we will still not make that 60% of science students. So I would like to know what your government will do to encourage the production of science students. And I want to link it to the issue that you raised about primary education; the issue of content. I think that we can build all the classrooms that we want in this country, but the issue is one of quality. I want to link again the issue of quality and science education to the issue of language. I want to know what your government policy will be on language instruction in primary schools to enable children to understand science and mathematics and other such abstract disciplines. Takyiwaa, the thing is this; you will find that students, in choosing their subjects, will take a lot of things into consideration. When they know that they can go to the universities and they can get scholarships and sponsorships, more students are going to be more inclined to choose science subjects or to read science. I had the privilege of teaching in the university. Many of the students who read administration were top science students but they chose administration because of the attractive nature of the jobs afterwards and also because some companies were sponsoring them. That is just to show that once you have an attractive package there will be tendency for students to move into that area. 14

21 Now you ask about the language we are going to use in the primary school. I think communication is very important. There are some who say we should teach them in their native language. Now let me say that our native language is limited in so many areas. There are so many things that you cannot describe in our native language. I will say that the basic language should be English but at the same time we should teach our children our native language. I think that English should be the medium of instruction because as you grow up you will find that our native language is incapable of interpreting many of the concepts that we have and I think that this is the way we should go. Matilda Asante, JOY FM: My understanding of research done with regards to primary education is that the children tend to understand the issues better in the local dialect, which should be the first language they pick up growing up, than they will ordinarily in English. Well, I don t know. Let s face it. When you go to school, your first language is your native language, but as grow you will find that there are certain shortcomings in the language. So that if they decide that at the very primary level they are going to start with the native language, I think that there should be a combination of the two because it is going to serve them well. If indeed you don t give them a good grounding in English, by the time you decide to do so it s going to be too late. Let me say that I am not an authority on linguistics but from my own experience, this is my proposal. Mrs. Irene Adanusa, GNAT: Prof, we have had so many reforms in Education. The focus over the past 10 years has been more on basic education. Considering our limited resources, what will your government focus on? Will you still focus on basic education or will you try and balance over the various levels of education? For whichever design you choose, could you give us one or two prescriptions as to how you will handle quality issues; quality in the sense of instruction, quality of teachers, quality of the social status of the teachers, 15

22 and especially quality of technical vocational education that will be effective for the development of our country. Mrs. Rose Karikari Annan, Ghana Employers Association: Prof, in an economy where there is low skills, low productivity, and low wages, we cannot reduce poverty. But we are in a vicious cycle of inadequate education, poor training, low productivity, and poor quality jobs, which land people low paying jobs. It doesn t allow workers who have not got relevant skills to participate in economic and social development. And this in turn fuels a negative impact on the development of enterprises. So enterprises are also not able to compete on the global market. My question is, what are you going to do about the low productivity issue of this country? Thank you for the two questions. Mrs. Adanusa, yes you are right; nothing is static; everything is dynamic. When it comes to education, you have to review the educational system to respond to needs of the people. I will say that my government will periodically review the educational structure from top to bottom to see if our educational system responds to the current needs. If indeed in the past we have concentrated on primary education, perhaps it was felt that there was a certain need. But I will want a situation where we take a holistic view of education. Now there was something that you ve touched on; you were talking about quality education. You are not going to get quality education unless you have educators who are properly motivated. This is the problem that we have. If you have teachers who are well motivated I can assure you, you are going to get the quality. But you have a situation where the teacher is not properly paid so he goes to class and he does not give his or her best. And because the teacher is poor based on his social standing of course he comes down. Now we have situations right in the universities where you find that a big portion of their emoluments is in the form of allowances. Now these allowances do not count when we are determining the pension of university lecturers. I am using this because I am familiar with this. How do you expect anybody to accept to teach in the university when he knows that after so many years of work the emoluments which they considered important when he was 16

23 teaching will no longer be taken into consideration in paying his pension? I think that the problem we have is that if we want quality education we have to pay for it. We have to give them a realistic salary so that they will be well motivated. People keep telling me we can never get quality education because we can t even get teachers. The reason why we cannot get teachers is that people do not think that the teaching profession is attractive. I am not surprised that people don t want to go into teaching. In 2000 when I suggested that university graduates should go into teaching, the NPP government had an advert in which some young people threatened to teach Mills a lesson, saying, When we want good jobs you say we should go into teaching... Now if we don t have teachers does it worry anybody? Teaching is a noble profession and I believe it holds a number of opportunities for many of us. I think that we must pay teachers well, we must see to the education of teachers, we must make sure that they get what it takes to give of their best. Now about employment and low productivity, when I spoke on the economy, I told you that we were going to increase domestic savings and more importantly, investments in infrastructure and I mentioned education. Where you make the right type of investments in education, i.e. the right type of education, and where you are able to provide people with water and energy. Have a look at energy, when we had the energy crisis, which in my view could have been avoided, the private sector was severely affected. They spent as much as $733 million to supplement their energy needs. Brothers and sisters, can we imagine what they could have used this amount for? 33 companies filed for bankruptcy, many workers were laid off and some of them decided to abandon their businesses and import items. What I am saying is that where the infrastructure is not there you are going to get low productivity. Government must provide an enabling environment which is corruption free, where you are able to eliminate crime. You will find that there will be a good return on investments. There will be further investments; you are opening the doors for people so that in addition, there will be income-producing activities. You will not have to tell 17

24 people where they should go. So the emphasis is on infrastructure. Unless you pay attention to infrastructure and cut out the frills, you are going to always be caught in this vicious cycle. Nii Acquayefio, Accra (text message): What change will we see in Ghana when we vote for you? What will you demand from road contractors to ensure better quality roads? You will see a new type of government. I am going to be truthful. When the road contractor is given a contract and the corrupt official asks for a percentage, can you complain if he does shoddy work? Again where the contractor has not been paid for a long time, how do you expect him to stay in business and pay his workers so that they will give of their best? I think that if you have a responsible government; a government which is not going to run after contractors and demand percentages, and where the right atmosphere is created, contractors will have little to complain about. Dr. Audrey Gadzekpo, University of Ghana: Prof Mills, you outlined a lot of lofty and ambitious things you want to do in education and agriculture particularly. Have you done any costing for these things? Often times our politicians give us promises and when they come into power they tell us the reality is that the national budget cannot support it. Have you done any costing for expanding the school feeding programme, for increasing classrooms, for giving pupils free school uniforms, for making sure that everybody has access to primary education and for irrigating some stretches of land? I have taken these things into consideration. That is why I said that we are going to rely on increased domestic savings, which we are going to invest in the productive sectors. If we look at our current domestic primary balance, and if we weigh revenues against expenditures, in 2007, this government was in the negative of 6.7% of GDP. In 2006 it was 4.6%. If you look at the gap between revenue and expenditure, the government was overspending. Where you have a situation as in 2007 where the fiscal deficit is almost 10% of GDP, the government cannot meet its performance targets. 18

25 It tells you that where you have a government that is overspending; that is not saving, you have a problem investing in the important sectors. We have to cut out the filth; we will begin from somewhere. But I have no doubt whatsoever that if we are able to increase domestic savings, and I think that with our programme, detailed in our manifesto, we will be able to do it. I am not talking about some other revenues but I think that in our system there is a lot that needs to be done. You take Customs for example, I know that we are capable and that is why I told you about the exemptions scheme but we seem to be looking the other way. I have been Commissioner for the Internal Revenue Service before and I believe that given the right kind of impetus, the right kind of incentives, we will be able to do more than we are doing. So I think that it s a question of tightening expenditures, cutting out the waste and maximising your revenue and you will be able to do more. Kwesi Gyasi: Prof, in advanced economies, the health of people running for public office is public property. There has been a lot of speculation about your health and if you were reported correctly, you have said that everybody has a hospital card. How has been your medical condition in the past 2 years and what do your doctors say about your health? Atta Mills is not a super human being. At the moment I am fit and doing my work just like any other human being. But like you or like anyone here, nobody can say when the good Lord will call him. I may live to be 80 to 90 years or I may go next week. It is only God who knows. So I leave everything in the hands of God. Now that I am fit and doing my job, the rest is in the hands of God. Network of Women s Rights Organisations: We got together and invited all the various political parties to a lunch where we informed them about the work that we have done around the Women s Manifesto for Ghana. We gave them a fact sheet which also summarised the main demands contained in the document and we also gave them copies of the document. So I wanted to find out from you what we 19

26 should be expecting from the National Democratic Congress manifesto. Our second question relates to a point you made in relation to water. Water is a very key issue for women. Please give us highlights on how you will deal with the problem of water. Those of us who are old enough, Prof Kwame Gyasi, I believe that you and I are in the same age bracket, will attest to the fact that in years past, water harvesting was one of the most important things in our country. In fact, many buildings had water reservoirs. Where I grew up, we fetched water from reservoirs. We have a situation now where we have abandoned water harvesting. I think that as a national policy, especially with public buildings and public institutions, some form of water reservoir or water harvesting must be undertaken. I think that this is an important requirement. I think that it should be the responsibility of government to invest in water production facilities. Water is life, I do not support the idea that it should be in private hands. Government may decide that they want to do this in collaboration with the private sector but I think that it is the responsibility of government to provide the resources for the water facilities. The other question that you posed was in connection with an invitation you extended to the NDC. At the time I was not around but if you did I can assure you that this has been taken into consideration in the preparation of our manifesto. But let me say that I have said publicly that I want at least 40% of my cabinet to be women. Now in doing so I am not doing the women a favour, I am only acknowledging the realities on the ground. Women now are on top of everything. They have proved their worth. Those I have worked with have worked very creditability so I think that this country will be the better for it if we have women taking up this challenge. I can assure you that we in the NDC, and Atta Mills in particular, are very much interested in enhancing the fortunes of women; empowering women. So whatever representation you made to them you can be sure that they have been taken care of in our manifesto. 20

27 Ernest Owusu Aboagye, Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana: The Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana believes that industry is critical to increasing GDP and development. Like you said, a lot of the blueprints are there; the question is implementation. How do you hope to link trade, finance and industry? Other countries like India and South Africa have shown that if trade, finance and industry are brought to support the pharmaceutical industry we can grow our GDP. Secondly, what is your personal opinion on doctors prescribing and dispensing and then claiming under the NHIS, since we believe that this practice is contrary to best practices anywhere in the world? What is your personal opinion on that? Well I wish I belonged to the medical profession, I don t know about their ethics of prescribing and dispensing. I don t know their ethics but you know better than I in this regard. Yes, you were talking about the nexus. I think that it is important that in coming out with a blueprint, you have to pay particular attention to the synergies. If indeed, the pharmaceutical society is going to benefit from this kind of service, then I believe that any government should pay particular attention to this. I mean we ve had representations from quite a number of professional bodies. I am yet to meet the Pharmaceutical Society. But it is not a question of drawing up a separate plan for them; it will be a question of making sure that you integrate whatever they want, into what is in existence, so that it will work. I believe that it is something which can work; it can be done. We don t want ministries working in isolation; we want to make sure that we integrate the system so that we will be able to derive the best we can on the investment that we make. Alice Darkoa Asare-Allotey, President of Ghana Registered Nurses Association: Prof, an even distribution of health workers in the country is very critical for us to achieve the health related UN millennium development goal. What will you do to influence health workers to accept postings to the 21

28 rural areas? I have had the privilege of going round the country many times. When you go to some of their health facilities, there is one thing which stares you in the face lack of accommodation facilities. You will find that you ve put up a clinic or a hospital, but you ve forgotten to make provision for accommodation for the medical staff. It is one of the major problems why people don t want to go to the rural areas. And I believe also that the necessary incentives must be given to them. Very often you go into a place where you don t have any facilities for your dependants; your children need to go to school, and there is no school around. I think that these are practical matters that we need to look at but the one which comes readily to mind is the fact of accommodation facilities. I believe that if we take a holistic view of this situation, we should be able to solve that particular problem. You cannot satisfy everybody overnight, but at least you can take important steps towards the solution of this particular problem. The Italian Ambassador to Ghana: Within the international community, Ghana is considered as a country which cares about human rights protection and Ghana is being elected with a very high number, as member of the new UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. But there are some concerns about some aspects of the social lives in Ghana especially abuses against some women connected to some older cultural traditions. I think of the so called trokosi, I think of female genital mutilation and other abuses against women. Ghana still has in its legislation, in its Constitution, death penalty even though during the last 15 years no execution took place apart from the one that took place in So I am interested in learning how in your programme this issue will be dealt with and what you think about these themes? I think that nobody should condone human rights abuses, even more so when they are against women. And in this regard I think we are fortunate that the women have been vocal enough to point out some of these things. I know that some initiatives have been taken. When I come into office what is left over will be tackled because women will have to be accorded 22

29 their full dignity. We have a lot of cultural practices which militate against women and it will be our responsibility to ensure that these are removed. There were some initiatives which we took when we were in office, but I believe that we could not complete everything. So I think that it is an area which we will have to look at and together with the women groups we should be able to take proper initiatives. Now the second issue about the death penalty. As a President, you are primus inter-pari, but two heads are better than one. And in some of these things you must get a consensus and then of course get some advice. Personally, I am not opposed to the death penalty; I am not opposed to it because I believe there are certain crimes for which the death penalty is appropriate. But I know there is a revolution against prescribing the death penalty. And the fact that for so many years we haven t applied it perhaps shows that people who are to enforce it have their own reservations about it. But I think that you look at developments and you also look at the nature of crimes, how best are you going to deter crimes. I know that criminologists are going to come out with all kinds of theories whether the death penalty is going to serve as a deterrent or not. But I think that when you have some of these things in your statutory books, that in itself serves as a deterrent. That is my personal opinion. But if somebody can convince me to scrap it from the books, it is something that I will listen to. Samuel Kwesi Asare, President of the Ghana Federation of the Disabled: Persons with disability in Ghana, by the WHO criterion, constitute 10% of the population. As a Presidential hopeful, what will you do to improve their living conditions and also help them to participate in the socio-economic programme? Prof. Mills: This is where our record as a nation has not been very good. The physically challenged have not been factored in many of our programmes. I know that in the University of Ghana, until very recently, the construction of the halls was such that if you were in a wheelchair it would be very 23

30 difficult for you to get in; but I know that the position has been rectified. I think that there is the growing awareness of the need for us to make provision for the physically handicapped. We, as social democrats, believe that that is a group unto which we have to pay special attention. The State must make sure that their disability is compensated for by the provision of the necessary facilities. If we have not done so in the past I think that we need to apologise to them and then be forward-looking in the next government. Question from Bernard Avleh, Citi FM: Prof, having been in government for 8 years and having been vice President for 4 years, what do you consider to be mistakes NDC made, which you assure Ghanaians that you will not repeat? Life itself is a learning experience; you grow wiser everyday and you learn from your mistakes. I will say that one mistake I personally made, and I don t know whether my colleagues did, was that I was not a good judge of human beings. And therefore, those who should have been brought closer we rather cast away and I think that this is something that we should look at. We learnt a number of lessons; I mean there were things that we could have done differently. But let me also tell you that when you are in government and you have to take certain decisions on the spur of the moment, you do not have the benefit of hindsight, and therefore you make mistakes. But let me say that having been in government and having been outside I am also very careful about the statements that we make. Yesterday, when I was going home I had the privilege of listening to Kokonsa and he played back some of the statements which some of our politicians had made in previous years. When I heard them, I told myself you have to be very careful, yes you have to be very careful about what you say. Think seriously before you open your mouth because you will find that things will catch up with you. So I think that this is a very useful lesson. And the other important thing is that we may belong to different political parties but we are not enemies. There are many of you who because of discrimination will not even want to be seen with me in broad day light. Some 24

31 of you come to me under cover of darkness because you have government contracts and you want to protect them. I am not a leper. Let s recognise that joining political parties is a device for winning political elections. Once we have finished we should be politically colour blind. We should be able to dine together. We have a situation when the moment that NPP came to power, people we have spent money to train, people occupying positions with knowledge, were all asked to proceed on leave. Atta Mills will not do that. We will make use of the best human resources that we have in the country and you know political colourisation should not be a subject. That is something that I have learnt having been in government and having been in opposition. Matilda Asante, JOY FM: I just want to take you on the word that you just said. You said that you were not a good judge of human beings. You want to be President... I was not, at that time Matilda: So you are, now. Yes. Matilda: Because my question would have been if you still aren t a good judge of persons, how do we trust you to make decisions on the best people to work on behalf of Ghana? Prof Mills: Oh now I am very good at it. Kwabena Oto, TUC: I think you are aware about low wages in the country and high inequalities in the wages structure. Additionally we have various government agencies and ministries determining their wages and sometimes the government 25

32 does not even have control over the wage levels. The NPP government has instituted a reform programme, which is expected to result in a single spine salary structure and is due for implementation in January What is your take on that? You talked about over-liberalisation of our economy. I think some of the things that you can do depends on the decisions that are taken today. On 13th December, 2007, government initialled the so-called Stepping Stone Economic Partnership Agreement, which is supposed to ensure that at least for a period of 15 years there will be no increase in tariffs on European imported products into our country. And you have already alluded to the fact that you want increased tariffs on poultry. What are you going to do about the interim Economic Partnership Agreement which establishes a free trade agreement between Ghana, (a vulnerable developing country), and the most important trading block in the world, the European Union? What are you going to do about it? When we were in power, we introduced the Ghana Universal Salary Scheme, (GUSS) which the NPP promptly dismembered. They promised that they would put money in people s pockets and give a living wage. Well I am happy that at the last May Day rally, after 7 years, President Kufuor was asking workers to exercise patience. I am also being patient. We will look at the report on the fair wages and salaries and then act accordingly. We are not going to say that we are going to reject the report because it was initiated by the NPP. There must be continuity in government. You made reference to a pact which they have signed. The problem in this country is that we tend to belittle the efforts of our predecessors. Let s acknowledge the good things that they have done and move on. But if we are going to engage in fault finding it creates a problem for us. Nobody can reinvent the wheel; you build on the foundations which others have laid. Unfortunately, it has taken some of us too long to realise this simple truth. 26

33 Harry Williams: Prof. you spoke extensively on profligate expenditures. I know that the NDC had criticised the NPP government s decision to purchase two aircrafts. I want to know what you intend to do with these aircrafts when you come to power. What has been your own view on the current spate of accidents in this country? Sometimes we talk too much. See the experience that we had with a Presidential jet, which sat on the tarmac for years; it was sold almost as scrap. Personally, I wouldn t go in and buy two planes. If we do have a plan, say a previous government has committed itself and bought a plane and it is available, and I come as President and decide that I am not going to use it, am I not causing financial loss? Am I not misusing the resources of the state? I will not have bought it, but it is available. What I am saying is let s look forward; we criticise, which we have every right to do. The final decision rests with the government. We wouldn t do it, but it has been done. What do you do? You let it sit on the tarmac for years only to sell it as scrap? I don t think that we are being fair to the people of Ghana. And I will want us to be very, very objective in this. You know it was the same with the Presidential jet which we bought. They made so many noises about it. They could not find any illegalities about it but yet it was left to stand on the tarmac for scrap. Regarding the spate of accidents; sometimes you ask yourself if we intentionally create the problems for ourselves. I find it difficult to understand how anybody can construct a road such that it rather creates traffic jams. I don t want to mention any particular locations but I know in one case it can take you as much as 3 hours to go over a distance of 2 or 3 km. Abdul Karim Hakeem, NUGS: Prof, coming from the university, you will agree with me that there are lots of blueprints over there, which if implemented, will at least take us from 27

34 the current scarcity of state policies. May I know what pragmatic steps you will take in integrating the universities into the development agenda of the nation? I recognise the wealth of knowledge that my colleagues have. And I will tell you some of the things that we are saying come directly from them and therefore I will say that they are contributing a lot to the policies and the things that we are saying. We will continue to rely on them because many of them have good ideas. We are not relegating them to the background; we appreciate your worth. Gloria Ofori Boadu, WABA: You made mention of training more physician assistants and nurses for hospitals in the regions. How about doctors? We now have a ratio of 14,000 people to one doctor and the infant mortality rate is high. Maternal mortality is very high, life expectancy of the average Ghanaian is below 60 years. How about the medical schools? If you looked at the figures on the number of doctors that we have trained over the years you would be amazed. A lot of them have found greener pastures elsewhere. This is another subject altogether. How do we retain their services? For as long as the conditions which encourage the brain drain exist, you can train any number of doctors but you are not going to be able to succeed. I wish we had more time to talk about the causes of the brain drain but I am happy that you have drawn our attention to it. It is one of the things that we will have to discuss with the members of the medical association and the medical schools. Roland Acquah Steven, Radio Gold: Prof. Mills what, in your estimation, made President Kufuor nominate you for a national award? Thank you. I am happy you said President Kufuor nominated me, I didn t nominate myself so I believe that he will be the best person to answer that question. 28

35 Akwasi Sarpong, JOY FM: Prof Mills, my question has to do with internal security. What do you intend to do about the image of the police service and ensuring internal security. Prof Mills: I believe that in my presentation I made reference to the fact that the police service needs revival and restoration. I think that I was being rather diplomatic in that respect. But I believe that it s an answer to the problem. How can you restore morale and confidence in the police service? And I think that there are practical ways of doing it. I have been chairman of the Police Council before and I think that we have some fair ideas as to how that can be achieved. Concluding Remarks I have really enjoyed this evening. Nobody has monopoly over wisdom. Very often when we are in government there is the tendency to display arrogance and give people the impression that you know it all. As I said, I want to introduce learning into the presentation of policies so that you will be able to react effectively. Indeed, I have enjoyed answering the questions and when you consider the questions you can see where they are coming from. I pray to God that He will enable me and my colleagues to be humble enough to face stakeholders and learn from them. Very often we dictate to them, but let me say that we do not know any better than anybody. Any Presidential candidate who gives the impression that he knows everything is nothing but a charlatan. I think that the mark of a leader is to make the best use of the human resources available. If you have a leader who says that he knows everything, that is a leader who is likely to drive your vehicle into a ditch. And I think that it is important that we know that. We have so many talents in this country; we have people with all kinds of ideas. They may not belong to your party, but that is of no consequence. I thank you for the opportunity that you have given me to appear before you. I pray to God that He himself will direct us and His will be done in our lives. Thank you. 29

36 2. PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE, ACCRA (insert picture to be provided) Candidate Mills engaging in the Presidential Debate, Accra Question: You have each indicated in your manifestoes that you will put money in the pockets of the people of Ghana. This implies creating jobs. What will you do to create more jobs? Thank you for the opportunity given to me and my compatriots. When you talk about jobs, you also have to think about how you are going to prepare people for the jobs. Training is very important. Helping people to acquire skills is very important. The state in this case has a role to play. One of the problems bedeviling our employment creation is the fact that we have a large army of unskilled people. When you take the figures, only 40% of our kids who go through JSS end up in SSS and then at the tertiary institutions. What do we do with them? There are very few technical schools, very few vocational schools, no avenues for apprenticeship and therefore they do not have the skills. I 30

37 know that it is not the state s duty to provide the actual jobs. But the state must create an enabling environment, and within the Constitution it is very clear that all political parties are to foster an atmosphere to promote private sector growth. Now when you come to the productive areas of the economy; because the economy must be such that, it can propel the private sector to produce jobs, we are being told that agriculture accounts for about 60% of the population workforce. Agriculture in this country has collapsed and the reasons are not hard to find. We need the necessary inputs. We need to give them capital. If we take agriculture seriously we would be serving at least 60% of the population. The private sector is in distress. The business atmosphere is indeed very unfriendly. Our SMEs and industries have collapsed. They are competing with cheap and sometimes shoddy imports. We haven t given them the necessary capital and there is slow uptake of technology. So what we need to do is to look at the issues facing the industrial sector because when the private sector is strong it will be able to provide the requisite jobs. When you talk about jobs you also think about those who have gone up the educational ladder there is graduate unemployment. What do you do about them? We need training, training, and training. Follow up question: What are the most critical issues you will tackle regarding un-skilled labour? The most important one is the private sector private sector and agriculture. The agriculture sector is crying for help and indeed, government should pay attention to the private sector. Question: Ghana has found oil in commercial quantities. What will you do to ensure that the oil money benefits all Ghanaians? 31

38 We have the GNPC. The GNPC has a stake in the oil revenues, but at the end of the day it is not the investor who owns the plot of land. It is the people of Ghana. We therefore must get a body which will make sure it monitors what is going on, gets the companies to account to it for all the resources so that they will be able to account to the people of this country. We are not going to leave everything in the hands of the oil companies; they must recoup their investments. So even at this stage our government must be interested in the kind of investments that they are making whether these investments are of such a nature that indeed, when the time comes we can sit down and allow them to recoup. So this is not the time to say we have struck oil and then fold up our arms. Let us try and see exactly what kind of investment is being made and whether we will allow these investments to be recouped here. Question: Economic growth requires foreign direct investments as well as the promotion of local initiatives. How will you manage foreign investment in such a way that it does not stifle local initiatives? Describing an economy of a country as strong and buoyant without the involvement of Ghanaians leaves a lot to be desired. Ghana is for Ghanaians and we must look up to Ghanaians first. We therefore have to look to our local entrepreneurs. Are they alright? Do they have the right atmosphere? Are we giving them the right inputs? If you look at the private sector right now, it is in distress. They have a lot of problems. Their contribution to GDP is almost nil. Over the past few years they ve recorded zero growth. It is good to have foreign direct investment, yes, but that is to supplement local efforts and indeed, we have to be very careful given the problems that we now have with the global financial problems. We are going to find that one of the possible results is that FDI is going to dry up. So I think that FDI should come only to supplement the efforts of Ghanaians. 32

39 Indeed we have cases where there is capital flight; I say that charity begins at home. Let s look at our private sector, look at our local entrepreneurs. There were some who were doing very well years ago. Where are they now? When you talk about Ghanaian economic giants who are they? I would rather talk about Ghanaian economic giants, boast about them, rather than refer to FDIs whose loyalty to the Ghanaian economy may not always be the kind that we want. They have problems and the problems are well known. We should tackle them and that is the way to gain confidence, and mind you FDIs may come when they know that Ghanaians themselves are investing in the economy. Follow up question: What are your priority areas regarding the Ghanaian entrepreneur? Industry, Manufacturing, Agriculture. When you come to industry, what industrial establishments do we have now? These are the sources of employment for a number of our people. We are importing everything. When it comes to agriculture, I made that statement that agriculture has collapsed. What happened to the poultry industry? How many poultry farmers can say that they are doing well? When you look at fishing, we are importing fish into the country. When you look at livestock, what is happening in these areas? I think that with manufacturing, we must be able to manufacture, using our local raw materials. I will therefore place very much emphasis on agriculture. Agro processing is one area where you can ensure food security and also produce for export. So it s a combination of factors, but I know Ghanaians are experts in these areas and can be relied upon. Question: What strategies do you have for Ghanaian industries to benefit from trade within ECOWAS? Well, I am happy that there is emphasis on leadership, and it is coming from people who have worked in government for 7 or 8 years. The prob- 33

40 lem that I see is the mistrust between our leaders. The mistrust of our leaders to sink their differences and seek the common good and interest. We spend all our time solving conflicts among ourselves and spend time also creating conflicts among ourselves. I mean look at the leadership in West Africa, on the surface they are getting on well but if you go beyond the surface you can see that all is not well. Not much has been done since 2000 to integrate the sub-region. Mention was made of ECOWAS parliament, convergence criteria, ECOWAS Court of Justice. These things were done in We decided to fast-track ECOWAS integration. We were the ones who even initiated the West African Gas Pipeline. We were prepared to go out and sit down with our colleagues. What has happened to these? It is because we just go round, chat with one another, have cocktails; but nobody wants to give something. You will have to give and take; and it is because you know leadership only thinks about itself. Even locally, see the number of barriers we erect when it suits us. You get the impression that some people have a vested interest in all this. I think that where there is the will, there will be the way. An Atta-Mills government, which is interested in getting the people to move in the direction which will ensure their welfare, will make sure that he will go round the various leaders and help sink our differences. Follow up question: What unique quality will your leadership have such that you will break the barrier of mistrust among West African Presidents? You must earn somebody s trust. I want to go there with an open mind, let them see by my actions, not by my words, that I mean what I say. We will act in accordance with the protocols. We have signed so many protocols, what is holding them back? They know better than we do but I am telling you that for somebody to trust you, you must earn the person s trust. You must show that indeed, you mean exactly 34

41 what you are saying. That is what many of our leaders don t do; they say one thing and do another and of course when you do that, it is difficult for people to trust you and cooperate with you. Question: What will you do to ensure food security? Food security merely means availability of food for the present and also provision for the future. And I am happy the question is linked with self reliance. When the global food crisis arose, I wish the Government had gone out to support the growers of local rice. Instead, we were trying to take tariffs off imported rice. That tells you the extent to which we are self reliant. But what do you do with food security? First of all, you must make sure you produce enough. And how do you produce enough? We ve told you, you must modernise agriculture, you must have the right inputs with marketing, with dams, with the supporting elements in agriculture. Two, we will have to make sure that what we produce we are able to preserve. Now what form does the preservation take? Agro-processing; we are recommending that we have a buffer stock management agency so that in periods of glut they go onto the market to purchase. We want to construct silos so that the extra can be preserved. Then we want to look at post-harvest losses. In this area, I believe that science and technology can play a part. We can use nuclear energy to preserve the food. But when we talk of food it s not only crops and then fishing, even though I agree very much with you. You are talking about poultry. What are we doing about poultry? We may need, as a government, to encourage people to have large scale plantations of maize and soya beans. So the whole thing is a package that we have to look at and I do agree with him that we have to grow what we eat. We have a situation where we are importing everything into this country, all the food crops. How many people go seriously into agriculture? So agriculture is no longer attractive 35

42 and we must make it attractive and make it worth the while of people to go into this area. I think that one of the most important things that we will have to do is to let the farmers know that they are not going to suffer any disadvantage whether the rains come or not. When there is a glut we will come to their aid, where there need to be subsidies, there must be subsidies. After all, our stand during the Doha rounds showed very clearly that we are in favour of government subsidising agriculture. So there is no reason why we should feel shy about it. Agriculture is the backbone and we must show this by our actions. Question: What will your government do to promote high quality and accessible education? Quality education can only be achieved if we pay attention to three critical factors. Number one is the pupil, i.e. the students. Number two the inputs, i.e. the infrastructure and the third one which people always conveniently forget is the teacher. Now let s look at the pupil. If the pupil is in such circumstances that even getting to school is a problem, if schools are not accessible, if you go to school and the roof is about to collapse, that needs to be addressed. The people must be in a position to go to school. That is why NDC is saying that when it comes to basic education, if we will have to buy uniforms, we will buy uniforms. The pupils must have access to education, to secondary schools. That is why the NDC was able to build 264 secondary schools. Access is also a problem. Whenever we talk about sending pupils to school, we forget that only 40% of those who pass SS have access to senior secondary school. So we must ensure accessibility. Give them the necessary infrastructure and textbooks. The school feeding programme which is not a bad thing, I think should be extended to all of them. But as far as I am concerned and being a teacher myself, and we are all here because of 36

43 teachers, the teacher is at the centre of it all. The teacher must be well-motivated. We know many of us went to so called village schools but the teachers were motivated and prepared to make sacrifices. But we have a situation where study leave is being restricted; where teachers do not know how much they are earning; where indeed, in certain areas allowances haven t been paid to them. If you have teachers who are not well-motivated, you are not going to get quality education. Follow up question: What will you do regarding the many pupils who leave senior secondary schools but are not able to enter the universities? The issue really is that those who are qualified and can go to the university must not be denied access to university education. But you are not going to produce university graduates and leave them without jobs. It is something that we have to take into consideration. I have always gone for the suggestion that university education must be so telling to meet the job market so I believe there is the need for some tinkering. Question: What should be the key components of an effective and equitable social security and pension system? When a person has worked for the specified period of time, I think he is entitled to go home and be assured of a respectable sum of money. But we have a situation right now where we are operating different systems. Some are operating under the CAP 30, others social security, the university also has its own scheme. One of the irregularities that I find is that especially in the university, people are paid allowances. Sixty percent of their emoluments consist of allowances but these are not taken into consideration when you go on pension. The result therefore is while you are telling the person that you need this amount to survive while you are teaching, you are also telling him 37

44 that once you cease to be a teacher that is the end of it sixty percent is no longer coming to you. I think that we have to rationalise the pension scheme and we also encourage leaving the private sector to form their own pension schemes. One of the problems that we are having is that government is employing two sets of workers one on social security where admittedly the returns are low and the other on CAP 30, where the returns are higher. We must make sure that we marry the two. But I think that the pension scheme must be updated regularly. You have a situation where people peg your pension at the time when you retire and very little effort is being made to upgrade it. And one other thing, it is not even enough giving people respectable pensions. Those who are on pension will tell you the difficulty that they experience in even getting their pension payments made. I think that in reforming the system the mode of payment and the regularity of payment should also be taken into consideration. Question: The maternal mortality rate in the country is 50 deaths per 1,000 live births. What will your administration do to reverse this trend? Where the pregnant woman has access to proper health facilities, I don t think there is going to be any problem. What are the causes of maternal mortality? Lack of access to health facilities is a big problem especially in the rural areas. I have been to villages where the roads are so bad, transportation is almost non-existent, so you ask yourself if somebody falls ill, how does one get the person to hospital? And we know also of areas where you can go to the hospital and find that there is no attendant, there is nobody to attend to the pregnant woman. Now, we also have socio-cultural practices where there are some who do not even want to go to hospital. They want to deliver at home. So some education must also be given. While I have no doubt that NHIS, where all the facilities are present, will help, I think that we are simplifying the 38

45 issue if we think that NHIS alone is going to solve the matter. It isn t going to solve the matter. Let s look into it, let s make sure that our pregnant women have proper facilities and that they have access to these facilities. Question: What policy do you have in place to improve the lives and the rights of women in Ghana? The question is on women s rights and you are going to look at it from three angles: their social rights, their political rights and their economic rights. Women have carried us in their wombs and on their backs for ages and there is no reason why we should discriminate against them. On social grounds, if there are cultural practices which discriminate against women, my government will make sure that we fight and uproot these cultural practices. I mean examples exist in the record books; the intestate succession law and female mutilation. These are barriers in getting the women to go to school. When it comes to political rights the NDC has already announced that 40% of ministerial appointments and appointments to public offices will be reserved for women. This is our aim; 40% of DCEs will be women. We will even set up a fund for women who want to participate in the nonpartisan district assembly because that is their breeding ground. When it gets to the economic sector, you know when a woman is working, children never go hungry. And when you go round it s the women who suffer. In the market, about 80% of our food distribution is carried out by women. So what do you do with the women? In the north for example, women who go round looking for shea-nut are bitten by snakes, they walk long distances to fetch water, and then to pick the nuts. So we will help with agriculture, modernise agriculture, give them the inputs and especially give them micro-credit so that they will be self sufficient. There should be a total package for them covering a broad range of women s rights. Indeed, we agree with the proponents of the women s manifesto that we 39

46 must recognise women s equality and then we must also mainstream women s affairs. In doing so, I am only emphasising the realities on the ground. The women these days are leaving the men behind and we have to recognise this fact. That s all. Follow up question: What will you do about children s rights? Children are the future leaders of our country and unfortunately sometimes they can be very defenceless. And so with children somebody has to stand in locus to them. We must have rules for children. Indeed we must not leave the bringing up of children to only the parents. They are the most natural people to do so but we must insist on children going to school, providing them with the necessities of life and also making sure that practices which discriminate against children, like child labour, like people beating children, corporal punishment for children, using children for the drug trade, and crime are eliminated. We must make sure that we have proper measures to ensure that children are not used for activities which in the end will not be in their own interest. Question: What will you do to ensure that there is constant and adequate supply of energy in the country for domestic and industrial use? We ve always maintained that the energy crisis could easily have been avoided. And we took steps when were there. We initiated the West African Gas Pipeline, we brought in the Osagyefo Barge. The reason that we had the problem in 1998, the Volta Lake failed us and therefore we thought of alternatives. So we brought in the Osageyfo Barge which can generate 110 mega watts, we brought in the Aboadze Plant which generates 550. However, if you use the turbine steam it will go up to 660. So indeed, we felt that we should move away from oil powered energy to gas fired energy. That is why we initiated the West Africa Gas Pipeline and we still think that must come to fruition. If it does we should be able to 40

47 get enough. We ve already said that we want to move from 1,600 to 5,000. We are also exploring other opportunities; mini hydro dams on the Pra and Ankobra Rivers. We are even experimenting with wind energy. As for solar, we did the experiment quite some time ago and we are going to insist that traffic lights for example be powered by solar energy. There is bio-gas also to be exploited. Even tidal wave energy. If you look at our blueprint and manifesto, we ve stated everything very clearly. I can say without any fear of contradiction that if the blueprint we left behind had been followed we would not have had this energy crisis which cost the private sector about $700 million. So we think that everything is clear. Atta Mills will not sit and ignore what his predecessors had done in the handing over notes which contain solutions to future problems. Follow up question: Perhaps you could take 15 seconds to make a comment on nuclear energy. One has to learn from the experiences of others. I was in America when we had the Three Mile Island incident. I read about Chernobyl and other areas. I think that nuclear power, if we want to consider it, is something that we have to study for some time. In Germany they are moving away from nuclear power. Let s find out from them what is causing this. There are other safer methods, so I will say that for now let it just be on the bed. When we are satisfied ourselves we will know what decision to take. Question: There have been several areas of conflicts in the country in recent times. There has also been an increase in violent crimes. How will you ensure security and law and order throughout the country so that every citizen can go to sleep feeling safe? Well, we talk about conflicts, law and order, etc. What are the causes? When it comes to conflict there are many causes. First, when people feel that they are not getting justice. Number two, where the people who are supposed to be arbiters are themselves taking sides, where you have mar- 41

48 ginalisation and polarisation. Four, where people who are supposed to enforce the law are either incapable or unwilling to enforce it. Where indeed there is also political victimisation you have this kind of problem. Now when it comes to crime, we all agree that crime has to be brought under control. How prepared are the law enforcing agencies? But where you have situations where people act and then the law enforcing agencies are not seen to be fair, people can flout the law with impunity; it s going to be very difficult for you to control crime. Talking about corruption or drugs, I am really surprised because when it comes to the drug trade yes, it is a very serious matter and it is something that we will have to fight and uproot. But here sometimes, you feel that there is complicity, you feel that people are incapable or unwilling. People look at what is happening on the scene and they say, well, why can t I do the same? So we have a situation where we must make sure that the law-enforcing agencies are doing their work and the leadership must be seen to be playing its role. If you are an arbiter or a leader, you wash your hands off; you stay aloof so that people will have confidence in your ability to intervene. Concluding Messages Fellow country men and women, thank you for listening to us for the past two to three hours. I am here because I want an opportunity to serve the people of Ghana, to have a better Ghana where we invest in people, where we give people jobs, where we see to people s education and health. This country of ours is polarised. There is so much marginalisation, we are moving in the wrong direction. Many people are calling for change. Our country is in distress. I support this move because the NDC believes in social democracy. We pay specific attention to the marginalised, the vulnerable, and we believe that leadership is what matters. You need someone who is sincere, someone who is honest, who is transparent and who believes that there can always be improvement. 42

49 As a young lecturer I used to think that I was the best until I realised from the students I was teaching that, even though they were not as educated as I was because I had gone through the motions, they were more intelligent than I was, so I realise that I should never describe myself in absolute terms as the best, there are better people. I want an opportunity to serve the people of Ghana to unite us. Atta Mills as President is not going to be President for NDC alone. I will be President for every Ghanaian. Whenever the Ghanaian has to be helped, whenever the Ghanaian needs the assistance of the state, I will do so without any consideration of political, social or religious affiliation. We need to see ourselves as one people. There is a lot that needs to be done. We need to tell our people the truth. Sometimes we think that by repeating an untruth it becomes the truth. It doesn t. By changing the label on the bottle, it does not necessarily change the contents of the bottle. I believe therefore that Ghanaians will give me an opportunity to serve. But lastly, let me say that it s God who installs kings and we must not in this election do anything that is going to cause violence or indeed, spill blood. If you do that, if power is tainted, we are not going to get God s blessing. Let all of us pledge to do what will move Ghana in the good direction. May God bless our homeland Ghana. 43

50 3. PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE, TAMALE Candidate Mills engaging in the Presidential Debate, Tamale Question: Good governance depends on sound constitutional provisions. After sixteen years operating the present Constitution, is there any aspect of the Constitution which needs to be reformed so as to impact positively on the lives of the ordinary Ghanaian? Once again I would like to add my voice to the words uttered by my colleagues. I thank the Good Lord for making it possible for us to be here today and I wish my colleagues all the best of luck. After 16 years one has to take a look at the Constitution. Clearly, changes have come and there is the need for us to take a fresh look at the Constitution. What needs to be done? One area is with the Vice Presidency. If I talk about it one should not be surprised. Keys issues include the following: Where the Vice President has a problem with the President what happens? 44