Mitchell, 62, is seeking to become the first person to win four consecutive general elections in the country and is hoping that his achievements in "bettering the social and economic" conditions of his citizens would make Grenadians "proud of me as I am of her and her people".

"My hope is when I eventually leave the political scene you will be able to look back on my service and see where we have come together. I hope you will feel pride in our shared accomplishments, knowing that through our working as a family I have been able to give back to the country which birthed me, nurtured me, educated me and gave me a strong sense of self," Mitchell said in a message to supporters of his ruling New National Party (NNP).

He recalls his early years, especially the hardships of planting the rich soils of the hillsides and "having to stand after dropping my load (of agricultural produce) for my spine to straighten out; of waiting for hours for transportation.

"My youth in Grenada prepared me for life. It made me understand the value of hard work, it made me understand the need for self-reliance, it gave me self assurance, it instilled in me the values of family and community, it made me realise I could be anything I wanted to be".

Mitchell, who has led the NNP since 1989, entered parliament in 1984 as the Minister of Communications, Works and Public Utilities, before being elevated to the post of prime minister on June 22, 1995.

"For the past 13 years, the New National Party has listened to and worked assiduously to address the concerns of the people of Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique. Today we can be pleased that working together we have built a country of which all of us can be justly proud".

But his detractors have claimed that such progress has come at the expense of the reputation of the country.

The prime minister, as expected, had become the main target for the opposition in the campaign, despite his insistence that a one-man commission of inquiry had found no evidence to support allegations that he had received a substantial sum of money from his former trade ambassador during a trip to Europe a few years ago.

Mitchell had consistently denied that he had done anything illegal after the opposition parties here called for an investigation into a 2004 article in a Miami-based publication that claimed the prime minister had received money for granting a diplomatic posting to German businessman Eric Resteiner.

The prime minister said the 83-page report submitted by prominent Barbadian jurist Sir Richard Cheltenham after seven months of public hearings had vindicated him.

"If you look on page 44 of that report, the most telling statement made in that report concerning the evidence on this issue there is no shred of evidence against the prime minister of this country. It went on further to say because there was no shred of evidence they could not call the prime minister before the commission".

Born November 12, 1946, Mitchell is married to Catherine and has one son, Olinga. He is a sports enthusiast who has also represented the Windward Islands - Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia and Grenada - at cricket at the regional level.

He is also the lead prime minister with responsibility for sports, particularly cricket, within the quasi-Cabinet of the Caribbean Community

(CARICOM) grouping.

CMC/pr/vd/2008