Jets Not Priority-Prof. Mills

The flag bearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Prof. Atta Mills says the purchase of two presidential jets by the government is a misplaced priority. “This not the time for it”, he said. According to him the plans by the government to purchase the jets was an smacked of double standards by the government. Prof. Mills was speaking on Joy FM on Monday, March 24, 2008. He said at a time when the NDC was acquiring a much smaller jet, the then opposition New Patriotic Party opposed it on the basis that times were hard. “Now there is a turn around to buy two jets at a time when people cannot even get water, when things are indeed more difficult to attain”, he pointed out. Prof. Mills also accused the government of being insensitive to the plight of Ghanaians. “We must be more sensitive than we are. We must be more selfless than we have been”, he advised. Responding to the arguments that the acquisition was a demonstration of vision by the government, he said “nothing should take precedence over the welfare of the people who voted you into power”. According to him, a leader’s vision must take into consideration the priorities of the country. The Law Professor said he was praying to God to give him the heart and the mind to serve Ghanaians faithfully. For him politics was an opportunity to serve the people and making sacrifices to better their lives. He said the spirit of Easter should cause people generally and leaders in particular to see the need to make sacrifices to better the lives of others.