The Vice President of FIDA International, Ursula Owusu, has accused President Atta Mills of deepening the polarization of the country. According to the legal practitioner, the president's call for unity during Sunday's national prayer and thanksgiving service held at the Independence Square came to her as a surprise. She noted that through his actions, the president has directly contributed to disunity in the Ghanaian society. Ms Owusu, who was speaking on Metro TV's Good Morning Ghana, cited President Mills' statement that he can only work with people who share his vision during a press conference at the Castle, as well as instructions from the president to his appointees to pay particular attention to National Democratic Congress (NDC) sympathizers as clear examples. "What about the rest of Ghanaians?" she asked, adding that "all these actions signal that you are here to see to the needs of one section of the population". She said by this, the president is deepening the "us and them syndrome" which she said does not build the unity she thought the nation enjoyed after the 2008 general elections. Ms Owusu observed that the results of the elections gave Ghanaians an excellent opportunity to build up consensus since there was only a minute difference [less than half a percentage of votes] that separated the two leading contending parties. She advised the president to give effect to his own assertion that he would be father for all because "it is one thing to say it, it is quite a different thing to act it." Further, she said that the president's preaching of unity would be in vain if he does not implement actions to create the unity. She however assured the ruling government that if it does anything worthy of commendation, she would be the first to commend it but if it does not she will be among the loudest to condemn it. Meanwhile, presidential aide Nii Lantey Vanderpuije, who was a co-panelist on the programme, said it is the New Patriotic Party (NPP) that is polarizing the country and not president Mills and the ruling NDC. He maintained that some positions in the civil and public services are basically governmental appointments, a situation he said the president can do nothing about. He insisted that it is incumbent on all to work towards achieving the president’s vision as stipulated in the NDC manifesto because that is what Ghanaians voted for, knowing it could carry them to their desired goals. Listen to the attached audio for the interaction between Ursula Owusu and presidential aide Nii Lantey Vanderpuije By: Dorcas Efe Mensah/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana

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