A few hours after the swearing-in ceremony of the President Professor John Evans Atta Mills, some residents of Kumasi in the Ashanti region have told The Chronicle about their expectations of the government, which tenure of office begins today, January 7, 2009. While most of them expect the NDC government to sustain the micro and macro economic stability chalked under President Kufuor’s administration, others did not mince words to resist any attempt by the incoming government do anything that would disturb the current atmosphere of freedom being enjoyed by Ghanaians. Most of the electorates were of the view that the country, under the leadership of President Kufuor, had set the nation on a path of accelerated democratic and economic growth, which needs to be sustained, hence their desire for the incoming administration to consolidate the gains made under the outgoing government. The Ashanti region residents also charged Professor Mills to avoid the ‘winner takes all’ attitude that have often characterized Ghanaian politics. That have also asked the incoming administration to do well to continue the good social programmes of President Kufuor and his NPP government -including the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP), the Capitation grant and the National Youth Employment Programme(NYEP), among a host of others. A number of those who spoke to the paper, thus appealed to the leadership of the NDC to avoid politics of vindictiveness, witch-hunting, vilification and retribution, which according to them, have the tendency to divide the nation. The electorate also want the next government to foster peace and unity amongst the various ethnic groups in the country, and to do well to address the perceived enmity among some ethnic groups in the country. “Our country has earned a lot of praise and respect from the international community as being a safe haven for democracy and any incoming government needs to build upon that and always put the interest of the nation above partisan or individual interest”, noted a second-hand tyre dealer. Mad. Cecilia Adom, who runs a shop at Kejetia, told The Chronicle that she expects Prof. Mills to do something about the high cost of duty imposed on importation of goods into the country, in order to enhance businesses in the private sector. For her, the cost of importing goods into the country was so high that some of them find it extremely difficult to clear their goods from the harbour. “You see, because of the high cost of importing goods into this country, we are left with no choice but to also raise prices of our goods,” she noted. A 17-years old handkerchief seller, Yaw Mensah, said he expected Prof. Mills to deliver on his promise to create more jobs to employ the numerous unemployed youth in the country. On his part, 26 year old taxi driver, Samuel Agyemang, stressed the need for the NDC government to reduce fuel prices in fulfilment of its promise during the electioneering campaign. It is, however, the hope and aspiration of most of the people who spoke to the paper that Prof. Mills and his NDC government would be able to honour their numerous promises.