President John Atta Mills has come out to silence his critics over the recent fuel increases by putting the blame on the debt of GH¢15 billion left by the Kufuor administration.
He said this at the 2nd Editors Forum at the Castle last week Friday where most of the questions thrown at him bordered on the recent fuel hikes which have thrown the doors ajar for Ghanaians to grit their teeth in pain to challenge the government’s Better Ghana Agenda.
President Mills noted that the country is saddled with an inordinate amount of debts which he said nearly grounded the nation’s economy to a halt.“I attribute the situation to the debt of about GH¢15 billion left for us by the previous government and to this end, there was the need to stop subsidizing and pay realistic charges so as to pluck the windfall for other social intervention programmes which could benefit the ordinary man,” he said.
President Mills reiterated his government’s preparedness and determination to carry out his Better Ghana Agenda, adding that he has not forgotten the social contract signed with the people of Ghana and which he is judiciously guided by his campaign promises.
Referring to the Wikileaks allegation that he the President has said that some members of his government have compromised their positions to traffic in illicit drugs, President Mills simply replied “I never said that. I would have given them out by now.”
On the question of the political crisis in Ivory Coast, the president said he does not want to jeopardize the lives of the over one million Ghanaians in that country and therefore is abiding by the ECOWAS DECISION. “We belong to ECOWAS and we will respect it’s decisions. But in my opinion, military intervention is not the solution to the wrangling in Cote D’Ivoire,” he asserted.
Source: Freedom