Vice President John Dramani Mahama has in a Christmas Message to Ghanaians urged persons living in conflict areas to use the occasion of the Christmas to change their circumstances by fostering reconciliation to create a new beginning. Delivering the message through the Castle Press Corps, Mr. Mahama noted that “Christmas is a season of peace and goodwill and we hope that this basic ingredient of Christmas would infuse everything that we do in this period of festivities.” “I will like to call on people living in areas where they have experienced conflict in the past to use this season of peace and goodwill to mark a change and foster reconciliation among you to create a new beginning so as to break from the past of antagonism,” Mr. Mahama urged. On issues of national politics, the Vice President reminded Ghanaians that the season also marks one year of President John Evans Atta Mills. “President Mills’ administration in one year was faced with an economic challenge in respect of how to restore the economy and bring the core economy indicators back on truck. President Mills, indeed, inherited an economic deficit that witnessed the cedi stumbling at a very fast rate and an inflation that was rising through the roofs,” he said. According to him, President Mills had to take austerity measures to stabilize the economy in order that it did not affect businesses and the quality of life of the people and this had been successfully done. “Over the next few years, beginning from next year, government would push for growth and expansion in order that it would create permanent jobs in the public sector particularly in the agriculture sector.” “Already we have seen an increase in food production in the country and government intention in the next three to four years is to be able to eliminate as much as possible the huge food import bills that we currently have,” Mr. Mahama assured Ghanaians. He lamented over the reckless attitude of drivers on the road, especially during Christmas period, and urged “Ghanaians to be very careful about the use of our roads”. “As we continue to improve our roads across the country and make them good for travel, you find that the good roads become slaughter houses and killing fields”, the VP sadly expressed. He added that “drivers who drive recklessly kill so many people. Terrible accidents take place on our roads and I want to use this opportunity to appeal to drivers to drive carefully.” “I want to urge drivers who drive in this yuletide not to drink and drive and when you decide to drink do not drive”, he said. Mr. Mahama advised drivers who get tired while on their journey to take a rest to ensure that whoever was charged to convey passengers to and from their destinations arrive safely. By Wisdom Peter Awuku & George Asirigo (VP’s Media Unit)