Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Professor John Evans Attah Mills says his quest to become president of the nation was inspired by an unflinching desire to serve the people of Ghana and get people out of what he called, "the increasing suffering of the masses." "My main reason for wanting to be president is that the ordinary people of Ghana want me to lead them. They have seen the qualities I possess and my capacity to redeem them from their suffering and I cannot disappoint them. It is not good to let down people who have confidence in you," the confident Associate Professor of Taxation told The Chronicle in a brief interaction in his office at the at the Kuku Hill campaign centre of the opposition party. He said socio-economic conditions in the country were becoming increasingly difficult and that was why he was offering himself to lead the country to help ensure that he gets the people out of their predicaments. Professor Mills had just returned from one of his door-to-door campaigns in an Accra suburb, and he disclosed to the paper that the responses he had been receiving during his campaigning were very impressive and indicative of an impending NDC electoral victory in 2008. The Professor says he is surprised people are speculating rumours about his health condition, emphasizing, "I can tell you that. I am healthier and stronger than I was ten years ago." He thus wonder why people would say he was not well when he was rather feeling very healthy. "I was an active sportsman until recently that I put on some weight, as a result of having to sit down at one place for office work but my weight at the moment is the best for me," he said. He touched on his recent comments about what looks like contract killings which have attracted some criticism from supporters of the ruling NPP, stressing “I issued that statement genuinely without all political undertones and I was surprised to hear that people were attacking me for that." Professor Mills lamented that virtually every issue was being politicised in the country, a development he said was not going to help the country and repeated his call on the appropriate agencies to rise up against criminal gangs who were behind the recent murders. "Politics should be devoid of insults. I have never and will never insult anyone in my political career, people think that is a weakness but I don't think so," the NDC flagbearer stated and stressed that that had been his principle even for the 2 years that he served as a lecturer at the University of Ghana. Source: The Chronicle