Mills Reschedules Volta Tour

THE SCHEDULED tour of President Mills to the Volta region has been called off once again. Initially, he was scheduled to tour the region from the 6th of May. It was postponed to June, after which it was rescheduled to take place after the Sunyani congress in July. Since then, the president�s tour of the region has been a back and forth story. Last week, there were rumours that the president would visit the region. The people prepared feverishly to welcome him into their communities and tell him their problems, only to be disappointed. Meetings were held in several departments, agencies and traditional areas across the region, particularly areas ear-marked for the tour. Unfortunately, the people were disappointed again when the Volta Regional Coordinating Council (VRCC) circulated a correspondence signed by the Deputy Volta Regional Minister, Col Cyril Necku. (Rtd.) to announce the cancellation of the scheduled tour. The statement blamed the indefinite postponement of the tour on unusual rainfall prevailing in the region. It read, �Due to the unusual rainfall prevailing in the Volta region at this time of the year, the Volta Regional Coordinating Council in consultation with the Office of the President has postponed the visit of H.E. the President to the region.� The statement noted that the tour would enable President Mills visit all �Better Ghana Projects executed in the region under favourable weather conditions, and also provide opportunities for the chiefs and people of the Volta region to receive their president appropriately.� Majority of the people in the region found the explanation very inappropriate. Most taxi and �trotro� drivers, who spoke to DAILY GUIDE, said the explanation to be very preposterous. One of them, Prosper Kekeli, a Ho-based taxi driver said on a local radio station that �What do they mean by rainfall, is it not the same season he toured the Greater Accra region? These people are not serious�they think we are children.� Another driver also stated, �So does it mean those of us struggling through the bad roads are not human beings, in any case when did the deputy Volta regional minister become a meteorologist�They should allow him (the president) to come and experience our suffering so that he fast tracks the Eastern Corridor roads.� Residents in the southern part of the region, particularly those in Aflao, have also rejected the excuse and rather descended on the president to come and use the Aflao road during the rainy season, so he could have an experience of they went through. Meanwhile, the Volta Regional Chairman of the National Patriotic Party, NPP, Kenwuud Nuworsu has reiterated the fact that the president�s postponement of his tour was due to the non-existence of viable projects in the region. He said �the truth is that there are no projects to commission or cut sod for.� He added that he was not surprised because since the NDC came to power, it had not fulfilled any of the promises it made. �Why will the president come and commission public toilets and day care centres while there is a whole university which has not seen the slightest work�They have failed that is all.� Mr. Nuworsu said this postponement confirmed why the chiefs in the region, about two months ago, descended on the government, because according to them, they did not respect the people in the region. He asked �is not the same season, the president toured the Greater Accra region?� He alleged that the postponement was to give contractors enough time to complete some of the schools and road projects for the president to come and commission. These projects, he claimed, were being shabbily and hurriedly done due to unnecessary pressure. The NPP regional chairman observed that �If all President Mills could do was to commission schools and public toilets, then former President Kuffuor would have commissioned about ten everyday during his reign.� He therefore called on the Mills administration to embark on viable projects that would help in the growth of the economy and improve the standard of living.