President John Evans Atta Mills on Monday declared 2010 an “action year,” when he swore in new officials of his administration. The new officials include Works and Housing Minister Alban Bagbin, Interior Minister Martin Amidu, Information Minister John Tia and Minister of State at the Presidency John Gyetuah. The rest are Employment and Social Welfare Minister E.T. Mensah, Northern Regional Minister Moses Mabengba and Deputy Energy Minister Inusah Fuseini. President Mills said the National Democratic Congress (NDC) spent the last year dealing with the “many challenges” it inherited, adding, the government was able to chalk great successes despite the challenges. “The challenges were such that, but for our courage, and our belief in ourselves, we could have thrown up our arms in despair. But as you can see, we have been able to revise the...economy. We have been able to halt the depreciation of the cedi. Indeed, the cedi now is doing very well against all the major currencies of the world,” he said. “If you look at the interest rates, we have come down so many percentage points. Inflation is now hovering around 14 percent and these achievements have been recorded in a year.” President Mills urged the new ministers to work harder to win the confidence of Ghanaians to return the party to power in 2012. “Clearly, there is more to be done, and you can be sure that with the team that we have, we should be able to perform to the satisfaction of Ghanaians so that coming 2012, they will return us to power,” he added. The President also urged more cohesion among members of his team, adding that ministers must put before them “the best interest of our nation.” According to him, Ghanaians elected the NDC into power with the ultimate aim of improving their standard of living and that officials in his administration must put their shoulders to the wheel with a single purpose of bettering the living standards of the citizenry. President Mills minced no words in reminding his team that there surely will be a day they would account for their actions while in government. “Let us always remember that for us there will be a day of judgement and we shall be judged together, not individually,” he announced. Addressing the gathering, outgoing Majority Leader, Alban Bagbin lauded the President’s decision to appoint the new ministers; he assured of the commitment of the new minister to fulfilling the promises of NDC. “We’ll not relent in our efforts to make sure that by the end of your tenure of office, a legacy is left that will never be erased in the memory of Ghanaians,” he assured, adding, “...we will definitely not disappoint you and Ghanaians.” Story by Fiifi Koomson/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana