Mahama Ayariga, a member of Prof. John Evans Atta Mills’ campaign team, says there are considerable landmark achievements to the credit of the National Democratic Congress presidential candidate. He has therefore spurned taunts from Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom, who is reported to have called on the people of the Central Region to demand of Mills, (native of the region), what legacy he left for the people while he was Vice President of the nation. But Ayariga, who spoke to Citi FM in debunking certain pronouncements attributed to Nduom that sought to suggest that Mills did nothing for the people, explained that the position of vice president was not a regional appointment but of national in nature. Ayariga said the Central Region remained dear to the heart of Prof Mills, and it will remain so ‘when he becomes the president of the nation’ come January 9, 2009 because the region, together with the three northern regions remain the poorest in the country. According to the Bawku Central MP, it is part of Mills’ development plan to get the development gap between the four regions and the rest of the country closed and as such he will pay those areas considerable attention. “But even then when Professor Mills was Vice President Central Region certainly did get considerable development projects. Indeed all the district capitals in the Central Region got electricity connected to the national grid during that period. Central Region experienced serious water shortages around that time, indeed the water situation in the Central Region was so bad, that the schools virtually had to close down almost every term because of water problems and I recall that with support from the Dutch Government, that period, the Winneba area had their water problem completely solved and Ajumako and co got their water supply extended. And if you look at the health sector, Central Region now has the Interberton Hospital which is one of the most modern hospitals not just in Ghana but in Africa. And the universities there; in Winneba and Cape Coast did see infrastructure development…” He continued that when it comes to public and private lives, Prof. Mills was highly successful, quoting his achievements as the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service as a glaring achievement. “Within that period, the tax to GDP ratio of Ghana rose from about 6 percent to about 17/18 percent of GDP. That is a considerable quantum leap in terms of tax collection…” “As young as 28 years, Prof Mills wrote a dissertation and obtained a PHD…” Ayariga said he found nothing wrong with Nduom’s style of campaign; daring and challenging his opponents, but he should also be amenable to the responses. Author: Isaac Yeboah