The Presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Professor John Evans Atta Mills, has received a rousing support in the Eastern Region where he is on a four-day push for votes in his bid to become the nation's next leader.
Confounding assumption by some political pundits that the Eastern Region is under the belt of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Professor Mills hauled large crowds, the highlight being the thousands who clogged the Boadua Ridge park to hear him stump, despite an overcast of rains.
At Kade, supporters actually defied a late downpour to welcome the NDC Flagbearer to the heartland of the dense forested community, appropriately called the Kwaebibirem District.
Initially from Nsawam where he commenced his drum up of support to Nyanoa, Adeiso, Asamankese and Boadua, Prof. Atta Mills enjoyed an emotional welcome with some communities putting road blocks at some vantage points to compel him to address them.
The thematic concern of Prof. Mills' campaign message was the need for political entities to demonstrate that party politics, rather than generating enmity among the people, should be used as a trajectory to instigate ideas, which can form the basis of national development.
He said, in line with that ethos, the NDC would strive to galvanize its supporters to observe the peace and also to ensure that the polls were conducted in a manner that represented the true aspirations of the voters.
Prof. Mills said NPP supporters had nothing to fear if he was elected President because he would be president of all Ghanaians, and would not pursue any retributive goals.
He said under his watch, the NDC would not engage in wanton pillage of the national kitty for private gains, but would use the resources available to embark on projects that would place ordinary people at the centre of its programmes.
In particular, Prof. Mills said he would not encourage his family members to become mired in looting national resources as this would be a betrayal of the confidence the people reposed in him.
He said those in political leadership should at all times try to engineer projects that helped solve the myriad difficulties faced by the people rather than seeking their own comfort.
He said the concerns of farmers, fishermen and other trade would be tackled holistically in line with modern agricultural dictates to enable them to realize the fruits of their toils.
Prof. Mills said any minister or state official who would engage himself in sleaze would be dealt with as the NDC wanted to champion a government not tainted by corruption and other corruptible practices such as drug-dealing.
On the status of his health, which has been a subject of public discussion, Prof Mills said he had disappointed those who wanted him dead and was at the moment in a sound state of well-being.
Prof. Mills' tour, which will take him to other constituencies in the region ends on Saturday with a rally at the Koforidua Jackson's Park to be addressed by his Vice-Presidential candidate, Mr. John Mahama, former President John Rawlings and other stalwarts of the party.