RIDING THE CHALLENGES (APRIL 15, 2009)

PRESIDENT John Evans Atta Mills yesterday met a cross-section of the media to make public some of his achievements and challenges during his first 100 days in office.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC), in its manifesto, signed a social contract with the people to fulfil certain deliverables within 100 days in office.
Those promises, which were echoed during the electioneering, include operating a lean government, avoiding extravagant and proliferate spending, reviewing petroleum taxes downwards and constituting a Cabinet and a Council of State.
Speaking about other pledges that are contained in the NDC manifesto, the President told the journalists that his administration had achieved a lot within the first 100 days in office, in spite of the formidable challenges confronting the country.
The DAILY GRAPHIC applauds the government for what it has been able to achieve within a little over three months in office.
We concede that the President will not be able to satisfy all Ghanaians within this period, but nobody can conclude that it was for want of trying because normally the first 100 days in office is regarded as a period for honeymoon.
All over the world, every country is struggling to come to terms with the global credit crunch and Ghana cannot be said to be an exception.
Indeed, what all these challenges mean is that Ghanaians must look within to find solutions to the problems.
This is why we agree with the President that “a country that cannot feed itself has no hope of building a self-reliant economy”.
Also, many people who harbour fears of vengeance from government functionaries should be convinced by the assurance from the President that the government would operate within the confines of the Constitution and other legal framework.
The DAILY GRAPHIC encourages the government to expedite action on its programmes for a better Ghana, now that it is about ending the honeymoon.
The people are looking forward to improvement in their living standards and the government is required to provide the needed stimulus to galvanise them into action.
The road ahead will require a lot of sacrifices from both the government and the people for us to be able to attain the objective of building a better Ghana.
The DAILY GRAPHIC also commends President Mills for opening the doors of the Castle to a cross-section of the media to assess his government’s stewardship over the last 100 days.
In this day and age, information holds the key to building a knowledge-based society and the interface between the Presidency and the media provides the vehicle for a two-way communication between President Mills and the people.
It is our hope that yesterday’s encounter will become a regular feature of the Mills administration so that journalists will not have an excuse to peddle untruths and distorted images of government actions and the country.
Since the media are a partner in development, without necessarily sacrificing the independent role assigned to them by the Constitution, we expect them to reciprocate the openness demonstrated by the Mills administration so far and make it a cardinal principle to always cross-check their facts.
Let us join the government to reconstruct the road to recovery to offer a glimmer of hope to our people in these trying times.