Thursday 28 May 2009

MILLS BEGINS U/EAST TOUR (D/G, Thursday, May 28, 2009. SPREAD)


THE President, Professor John Evans Atta Mills, arrived in Bolgatanga yesterday to begin a two-day working visit to the Upper East Region to thank the people of the region and familiarise himself with some developments there.
He was met on his way to Bolgatanga at Pwalugu, a town just before the Upper East Regional capital, by the Upper East Regional Minister, Mr Mark Woyongo, and other government officials.
From Pwalugu, the convoy drove straight to the residency, where the President inspected a guard of honour mounted by personnel of the Ghana Police Service. He later called at the palace of the Paramount Chief of the Bolgatanga Traditional Area, Naba Martin Abilba, to pay homage to the chief and his people.
At the palace, President Mills said he was there to say ‘thank you’ to the people for their support for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the last general election.
He said not only did the people of the region vote massively for him but also for the first time in so many years they voted for the NDC parliamentary candidate, Mr Opam Brown.
He assured the people that the government would do all in its power to meet their aspirations.
The President said the government would give the regional minister and his team of municipal and district chief executives all the support they needed.
He said since he arrived in the region, the regional minister had wasted no time in drawing his attention to some nagging problems there.
“These are problems that have existed for some time but I have no doubt whatsoever that we have the capacity, determination and commitment to resolve them,” he stated.
He said while the government would strive to meet all its promises, it needed patience and support from the citizenry and called on the populace to live in peace with one another, adding, “Our objective as a people is to ensure that we improve on our lives and build a solid foundation for not only our children but also generations yet unborn.”
Welcoming the President, Naba Abilba congratulated him on his victory and prayed for the success of his government.
“We are blessed to have got a man like Prof Mills to lead the nation and I am very hopeful that his visit here today will expose him to some of the development challenges facing us,” he said.
He commended the President for recently dispatching the Vice-President to the Bawku municipality to mediate in the conflict and said that move was very proactive in helping to bring the situation under control.
The Bolga Naba later adorned the President with a white “Fugu” and an accompanying northern traditional hat.
While in the region, the President will meet with various chiefs, including the Bawku Naba, Asigri Abugrago Azoka II, as well as chiefs from the Kassena-Nankana East District. He will also interact with opinion leaders, Muslim and Christian leaders, as well as party activists.
He will visit the Sumbrungu campus of the Bolgatanga Polytechnic to inspect development projects there and climax his visit with an address at a durbar of the chiefs and people of the region at the Golden Jubilee Park in Bolgatanga.
The President is accompanied by the Minister of Defence, Lt Gen Joseph Smith (retd), the Minister for the Interior, Mr Cletus Apul Avoka, the Presidential Spokesperson, Mr Mahama Ayariga, and the Head of Communications at the Presidency, Mr Koku Anyidoho.
The President is expected to visit the Upper West Region after his tour of the Upper East Region.

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