Professor John Evans Attah Mills, flag bearer of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), said on Wednesday that if his party recaptured political power in the December 7, general election, it would make national reconciliation and cohesion a foremost priority. “Atta Mills would be the President of all Ghanaians and not a political party,” was the general theme that permeated 25 minutes of his interaction with various social groups and stakeholders of the presidential and parliamentary elections at a live political platform provided by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) in Accra. The Ghana Political Parties Programme, dubbed: An Evening Encounter with Professor Evans Atta Mills, provided the former Vice President the opportunity to answer questions that span his personal views on the death penalty and his health. The programme was the second in a series to be organised by the IEA in collaboration with Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) and Joy FM, an Accra radio station to enable the various presidential aspirants to educate the electorate on their visions and plans and how they intend to govern the country. Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom, presidential candidate of the Convention Peoples' Party was the first to appear. Prof. Atta Mills would be followed by Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo, flag bearer of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP). Prof. Mills dedicated his lecture to Tsatsu Tsikata, former Chief Executive of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) who has been sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for wilfully causing financial loss to the state and misapplying public property. He noted that partisan politics had polarised the country, leading to a broken trust between elected officials and the governed. Prof. Mills said political vindictiveness was stalling the development of the country, explaining that, Ghana was not short of the blueprints to facilitate accelerated development. He said most often, political leaders developed cold feet to continue with the projects of their predecessors. Prof. Mills said if he was voted into power, his administration would develop a pragmatic approach that would include all political parties in vital decisions that would improve on the fortunes of the state. He said the effectiveness of a good policy depended on public acceptance and not how much noise or propaganda politicians make about it, even at its inception. Touching on the social vision of the NDC, he said the social democratic principle of the party would come to bear to better the lot of the under-privileged and marginalised in society. “Those at the other side believe in the survival of the fittest. Fairness is being gradually lost in society.” Prof. Mills expressed dissatisfaction about the upsurge of violent crime, which he said were related to the use of Ghana as transit point for drug trafficking. He said the government of the NDC would bring experts from all the political shades to deal with the problem. The NDC would also revive regional initiatives to share intelligence to check the drug menace. Prof. Mills said he would restore the morale of the Ghana Police Service and other agencies to fight the problem, which, he said, was denting the image of the country, that has been a signatory to the international convention on narcotics control. He also elaborated on plans to expand the National School Feeding Programme and facilities for teaching and learning from the basic to the tertiary schools. Focusing on economics, he said the NDC would initiate policies to ensure high economic growth through the promotion of domestic savings and the improvement of revenue generation. Prof. Mills said the party would cut down on frivolous government expenditure in order to save money for needed development projects. He said the various institutions established to check corruption must be given adequate budget and the teeth to bite. Other projects he outlined included renaissance in the agricultural sector to reduce the cost of food. He said the flagship would include the irrigation of 178,000 acres of farm lands at the Accra plains in line with the Volta River Project of the First President, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. Fertiliser would also be manufactured locally in the Western Region. The NDC would also impose tariffs and duties on imported poultry products to revive the local industry in line with the rules of the World Trade Organisation.