Residents of Tamale have reacted differently in their expectations of the newly inaugurated President John Evans Atta Mills-led government.
While some residents have expressed optimism that the new President and his administration are capable of uniting the country that has been polarised politically over the years and accelerating its development, others believed that the success of his administration depended on his ability to bring on board members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to harness the needed human resource base for development.
Alhassan Abdul-Basit and Ibrahim Umar Farouk, both second-year students of the Nursing Training College in Tamale, told the Daily Graphic in an interview that President Atta-Mills should not renege on his campaign promises, particularly those regarding his preparedness to continue with some of the policies of the former administration.
They entreated the new President to consider reviewing the National Health Insurance Scheme, for instance, to ensure that ordinary Ghanaians did not pay premiums before enjoying the facility.
The students also expressed the hope that salaries of workers would be improved while ensuring that incentives were adequately provided to motivate workers to increase their output.
They equally entreated the new government to help improve on facilities at the Tamale Teaching Hospital and upgrade the Tamale Airport.
They said they expected the new government to reduce fuel prices and subsidise agricultural inputs and the production of cement to enable more workers to put up their own houses.
A cameraman with a state media who pleaded anonymity entreated the new President to be “magnanimous” and to bring on board Ghanaians, irrespective of their ethnic, political or religious backgrounds to ensure accelerated development of the country.
The Tamale Metropolitan Director of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), Alhaji Mohammed Baba, observed that the new President, Professor Atta Mills, and his administration had a Herculean task to deal with the challenges facing the nation.
According to him, the youth for instance had high expectations of a government that would bring change in all spheres of life including the creation of more jobs for them, while ensuring that the country’s infrastructure was also enhanced.
Alhaji Baba observed that President Atta Mills’s pledge not to engage in “witch-hunting” but at the same time ensure accountability was welcome news.
“The National Democratic Congress has great challenges ahead and if they want to succeed then they must hit the road immediately” he stressed.
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