President Akufo-Addo pledges support for Red Cross Society
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has pledged the government’s support for the Ghana Red Cross Society (GRCS) to enable it to deliver more on its humanitarian mandate.
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He, therefore, requested the GRCS to furnish him with a list of its priorities for action so that the society could continue to efficiently deliver on its mandate.
He lauded the role the society had been playing so far as a government auxiliary.
The President, who is also the Chief Patron, as per Act 10, 1958 of the Constitution of the Ghana Red Cross, made the pledge when a delegation from the society paid a courtesy call on him at the Flagstaff House in Accra yesterday.
Reasons for visit
Explaining the purpose of the call, the President of the GRCS, Dr Michael Agyekum Addo, who led the delegation, said it was at the seat of government to officially hand over the society to the President.
The visit, he said, was also to report on the society’s activities and challenges to the President with the view to seeking his wise counsel on how to make more progress since he bore ultimate responsibility for the GRCS’s actions or inactions.
Dr Addo enumerated the priority areas for support for the society as the need to review its Act and Constitution to meet current needs as according to him, the current Act (Act 10, 1958) had outlived its times and subsequently required a review to strengthen its role as an auxiliary to the government.
Requests
He also called on the government to absorb the core costs of the society, which included the salaries of its 41 core staff.
He further called for support for the completion of its head office complex which had a first aid training and resource centres.
Dr Addo also called for tax exemptions on relief supplies, vehicles, equipment and tools used to do its relief work among others.
The representative of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), Mr Momodu Lamin Fye, in a remark also reiterated the IFRC’s support for Ghana.
In attendance at the meeting were the Chief of Staff, Mrs Akosua Frema Osei-Opare, Ms Otiko Afisa Djabah, Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection and Mr Kingsley Aboagye-Gyedu, a Deputy Minister of Health.
The delegation from the Red Cross included its Secretary General, Mr Kofi Addo, Mr Louis Anopong Okyere, Communications Manager, Mr Alex Lanbom, Finance and Administration Manager, Mr Eric Asamoah Darko, Greater Accra Regional Manager, Madam Mariam Salifu, National Chairperson, Mothers Clubs, Ghana Red Cross Society; and Mr Ernest Nyame Annan, National Youth coordinator.
Also present was Mr Abel Augustinio, a Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) delegate based in Accra.