Former President John Dramani Mahama, says the National Democratic Congress (NDC) will not make promises to Ghanaians it cannot fulfill. 'One of the basic principles of leadership is honesty. Don't tell the people you will do something that you know you do not intend to do.' The Former President who is the Flagbearer of the NDC, said this when he addressed the Upper East Region House of Chiefs on his two-day tour of the Region dubbed 'Building Ghana' tour. The tour, he said was intended to solicit views of Ghanaians to enable the Party draft its manifesto for this year's elections. 'We all must create before we can share. And so our first responsibility will be to stabilize the economy and start growing the economy again. We can only do that if we put our money where our mouths are, and put our investment in the right place,' he said. The Former President said the next NDC government would look at the value chain in every part of the country and invest in it, adding that Benin's leading export was cotto n and it was revolutionizing the country. 'And so one of the things we are going to do, is to revive our cotton industry so that our families can earn more. Upper East Region has become important in food production, but we need to provide more irrigation facilities so that we can expand the production of food and other agricultural crops,' he said. He said rehabilitation works began on the Vea and Tono Dams under the late former President John Evans Atta Mills, 'Unfortunately, it has stalled, and we need to bring more land under irrigation. That will be a priority for us. 'We started the Tamde irrigation dam, and even today, with the little part that they have started producing, I saw a video where they were harvesting so much carrots for sale in the markets, and that is just a fraction of the land we are bringing under cultivation. 'We will finish that project because we need a pump to lift the water and irrigate another 3500 hectares of land. If we have all that land available, why will our people leave here and go to the South for menial jobs,' he quizzed. Mr Mahama said his next administration would look at the capacity of every Region and put investments at the needed areas to provide meaningful jobs for the citizenry. Pe Ditundini Adiali Ayagitam III, President of the Region's House of Chiefs and Paramount Chief of the Chiana Traditional Area, was hopeful that the Flagbearer would engage residents in the Region for their inputs to enable him and his team to craft a strategy to end the conflict in Bawku if he gets the mandate as President. 'Ghanaians need peace to go about their normal duties. The Kusaug Traditional Council needs peace in Bawku to restore the area back to its former status,' he said, and wished the former President well in his activities in the Region. Source: Ghana News Agency