EXPECTATIONS OF NEW GOVERNMENT ...Views from Tamale (MIRROR, PAGE 35)

AWAL SIKENA
Trader

My main concern is for the government to ensure that the peace we are currently enjoying in this area is maintained and jealously protected so that we can go about our businesses without any interruptions.
I also appeal to the President to act with urgency to protect our borders from smugglers who bring inferior goods into the country to sell. This practice is seriously affecting local businesses.
Another area of concern to me is the sustainability of the National Health Insurance Scheme. I will like the government to improve on the system as President Mills promised in his campaigns.
Another significant sector I will want the government to pay attention to is education. Apart from putting up additional school infrastructure, I expect that teachers would be well motivated, while books and other teaching and learning materials are also made available for effective teaching and learning.

KUBURA ALHASSAN
Trader

It is my prayer that Allah gives President Mills good health, strength and the wisdom to steer the affairs of the nation and to help improve on our fortunes.
I implore him to come out with laudable initiatives and programmes that can help unite this country and also accelerate our development.
For us petty traders, we entreat the government to support us with credit facilities and marketing opportunities to enable us sell our wares.
The constant harassment by officials of the Metro Assembly who sack us from the locations we trade without providing alternative places for us is not good.
The government should put in place security measures to ensure that armed robbery becomes a thing of the past. The Yendi chieftaincy crisis must be addressed and all efforts must be made to apprehend those who were behind the disturbances that led to the gruesome murder of the Ya-Na and his retinue of elders.
The killers of Alhaji Issah Mobilla and the recent Gushiegu mayhem that led to the murder of three persons must also be thoroughly investigated.

GARIBA IBRAHIM
Media
Consultant

The manifesto of the new government contains a lot of programmes which when adhered to will turn the country around.
I will therefore entreat the government to endeavour to abide by its own manifesto to meet the aspirations of the people.
Indeed, I expect good governance to be the cornerstone of the President Mills-led administration. The government must also fulfil its promise to create a special fund for accelerated development of the North, which is the most deprived in the country.
Development cannot thrive without peace. It is for this reason that I appeal to President Mills to do everything possible to ensure that solutions are found to the protracted Dagbon chieftaincy crisis that is hanging like an albatross around our necks. Because whether we like it or not what pertains in Dagbon affects the entire north, either positively or negatively. I hope that the people will also offer the necessary support and cooperation to the government to realise this objective.
Another area I would like the government to pay attention to is the appointment and supervision of ministers and district chief executives. They should be supervised closely and the errant ones amongst them called to order.
Indeed, I have been impressed by the humility and sincerity of the President in some of the decisions he has so far taken. I appeal to Ghanaians not to rush him, but to exercise patience as he prepares his team to begin actual work.

HANNAH DZEKOE
Intern, RAINS, Tamale

CHANGE is good only when it is in the right direction and the implementation of what constitutes the change is made obvious to the people who effected the change.
Even though my expectations of the government are high, I think Ghanaians have to be patient and give it the needed support and cooperation to put things in order to enable it deliver on its promises to the electorate.
First, I will like the government to take a critical look at the economy which we learn is not in a very good shape. I expect that measures will be taken to bring the economy back on track in such a way that the pace of development of the country will be accelerated without dislocating our financial standings.
Secondly, the government should take measures to improve on infrastructure, especially in educational institutions and support the growth of science and technology.
Another area of importance is the private sector which must be strengthened to offer job opportunities to the teeming unemployed youth. Additionally, local industries must be protected from unfair competitions, particularly in the agricultural and textile industry. This will encourage Ghanaians to appreciate and consume our locally manufactured products.
The National Health Insurance Scheme is another sector that I would like the new government to improve upon.
Potable water should also be made available to deprived communities to guard against the contraction of water-borne diseases.
I expect the security of the nation to be strengthened in all parts of the country and especially at flash points where there are chieftaincy and land related disputes. The Dagbon chieftaincy dispute must immediately be investigated and those found culpable brought to book.

ADAM ABDUL-KADIRI
Vendor

I expect the new government to put in place a policy that will ensure that all children are encouraged to go to school.
Those who cannot continue their education due to some reasons must also be assisted to learn a trade or vocation.
Unemployment is the main problem confronting us in this part of the country due to the lack of industries and other job opportunities. I, therefore, appeal to President Mills to create job opportunities for us so that we are not forced to migrate down south to look for menial jobs.
It is in this direction that the National Youth Employment Policy needs strengthening and expansion to make it cover more people who would contribute their quota to national development while earning some money to live by.
Finally, a lasting and permanent solution should be found to the Dagbon chieftaincy problem to ensure total peace, a precondition for attracting the much needed investment into this area so that our lives would be improved.

AMPONSAH YAW ERIC
Student, University for Development Studies (UDS), Nyankpala

I think the coming of the NDC is an indication that the people of Ghana have confidence in the NDC’s vision of creating more jobs, investing in people, expanding infrastructure and improving the economy.
It is therefore important for Professor Mills’s administration to implement programmes that would enable it realise these goals.
I specifically expect the government to be equitable and fair in the development of all the public universities in the country.
The University for Development Studies (UDS), a premium university in agricultural and development studies, is seriously under-resourced and this affects academic studies.
The Nyankpala Campus of the university, for instance, lacks water, furniture, lecture halls, roads, books, and computer facilities.
The NDC administration should, therefore, place premium on improving facilities in public universities that are disadvantaged so they can churn out fully-fledged graduates for the job market.

ADAMS KALEO
BERTINUS
Tutor, Tamale
Training College

BRIDGING the wide gap between the northern and the southern parts, opening up of local industries, revamping of collapsed industries and companies such as the Ghana Cotton Company and establishing an industry to cater for the sheanut sector are some of the things I want the government to look at.
The new government should also expand infrastructure including those in the educational sector.
I also look forward to the construction of more irrigation and storage facilities as well as the introduction of incentives for sheanut and cotton farmers just like that being done for their colleagues in the cocoa and coffee sectors.
On the road sector, the construction and tarring of unmotorable roads must be attended to without delay to ensure free movement of people, goods and services.
More schools, including teacher training institutions should be established while existing and dilapidated ones are rehabilitated, particularly in the north where there are few educational facilities.
The government should release scholarships and grants to schools in the north early to forestall the practice in the past where their continuous delay resulted in the late re-opening of the schools and early closures.