The flag bearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Prof John Evans Atta-Mills, has said it is sad that the national award has been so politicised, making it lose its true essence. He said that if there was anybody who should be rewarded in this country then the first President of Ghana, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, deserved to be honoured, with the institution of a founders' day in his memory. The flag bearer said this on the second day of the third phase of his visit to the Western Region, which has taken him to the southern part of the region. He deplored the manner in which national awards had been clouded with politics, and gave the assurance that when the NDC came to power it would do everything to make it impossible for people to link an award of such significance to partisan politics. The people of Elembelle Constituency in the Nzema East District of the Western Region commended Prof. John Evans Atta Mills on his statement. The teeming crowd was of the view that no presidential aspirant had ever gone beyond Nkroful to Asasetre and other areas they described as "Overseas" because of the bad roads. Amidst drumming and dancing they expressed the view that despite the bad nature of the roads Professor Mills had undertaken the trip, which they said would afford him the opportunity to appreciate their plight should he come to power. Prof. Mills assured the chiefs and people of the area that given the mandate, he would institute a founder's day for Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, which would be observed as a national holiday, and revamp the coconut mill as well as construct motorable roads to link communities to major roads. Prof. Mills told the crowd "if I tell you when we come to power, I am not saying that out of arrogance or overzealousness, but I am humbly confident that an Atta Mills led National Democratic Congress will win the December 7 general elections overwhelmingly to liberate the people of this country from their suffering," he said. The professor visited the birth place of the country's first president, and in a solemn mood, described the departed hero as the great son of Africa, given birth to by Ghana, gone but still alive and would forever be remembered for his contribution to Ghana and the African continent as a whole. He assured the people at a durbar that he would not let them down, "I will not let you down, there will be transparency and equitable development across the country, there would not be favouritism and selective development". He sympathised with the people of "Overseas" and other deprived areas and told them that under the infrastructural development of his government, roads, health, education, among others, would be part of his priorities and the people of these areas would not be forgotten. With much assurance he said "I fear and respect God and I will not come and stand in front of you and say one thing and do another, I will be true to you, I will be true to all Ghanaians." "I can assure the youth that you have a great technical institute at Kikam and with the latest discovery of oil, when we come to power we will ensure that the institute is upgraded to train middle level staff needed from these areas to ensure that when companies start the roll call the youth trained from Kikam Technical Institute would stand tall among their peers," he said. Prof. Mills said it was sad that after a series of research and introduction of many hybrids of coconut had been made available, the people in the area were unable to access credit for expansion. "Once again I am assuring you that when we come to power, there would be credit and technical support for coconut farmers to produce more to earn a living, he added." According to Prof. Mills, the coconut processing mill aside, there were other uses for the byproducts of coconut, and he could ensure that there was research to ensure that the uses for the byproducts were established to benefit the people. Source: Daily Graphic