Prez Mahama receives Letters of Credence from envoys
Eleven envoys yesterday presented their Letters of Credence to President John Dramani Mahama at the Flagstaff House.
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They were Mr Andrew Barnes of Australia, Mr Andras Szabo, Hungary; Mr Henry Christoph Retzlaff, Germany; Mr Mohammed Maiga, Mali; and Mr Gerald Strikker of the Netherlands.
The rest were Ms Heather Anne Cameron of Canada, Mr Giovanni Favilli of Italy, Mr Acisclo Valladares Molina from the Republic of Guatemala, Lieutenant General Muhammed Agha Umer Farooq (retd), Pakistan; Mr Hugues Chantry, Kingdom of Belgium and Mr Gustavo Alejandro Dzugala of Argentina.
One after another, the envoys, accompanied by some of their state officials, were ushered into the Credentials Room of the Flagstaff House by the Foreign Ministry officials to present their letters of credence to President Mahama.
The envoys conveyed the warm fraternal greetings from their respective Heads of State to President Mahama and promised to build on the existing relations between their countries and Ghana.
While acknowledging their heavy responsibilities, they also noted the enormous role Ghana had played in international affairs and expressed their happiness to represent their countries in Ghana.
The incoming Canadian Ambassador to Ghana, Heather Anne Cameron and President John Mahama
Strengthening relations
President Mahama assured them of Ghana's determination to strengthen bilateral and diplomatic cooperation with the 11 countries.
As Ghana moved to build on the relations with other countries, he said attention would be placed on investment in the country.
In that regard, the President said the economy would continue to be a major focus of development.
General election
Touching on the December 7 general election, President Mahama reassured the international community that the government would work to maintain the peace and unity of the nation.
"Government will do everything possible to ensure that there is peace before, during and after the general election, and, therefore, nothing will be done to affect the relations we enjoyed in the past," he told the envoys.
The incoming German Ambassador to Ghana, Henry Christoph Retzlaff (right) presenting his Letters of Credence to President John Mahama at the Flagstaff House
Specific countries
On specific countries, President Mahama said the government would build on its relations with Australia in the mining sector.
For Canada, he said Ghana had maintained strong partnership with the country in the areas of water, sanitation and health and said opportunities would be explored to advance the cooperation in those and other areas.
When the Hungarian envoy took his turn, President Mahama noted Hungary' s immense expertise in the petrol-chemical industry and urged them to share their experiences and knowledge with Ghanaians.
The incoming Hungarian Ambassador to Ghana, Andras Szabo (right), presenting his Letters of Credence to President John Mahama at the Flagstaff House
On Germany, the President commended the European giant for its technical support to Ghana, especially in peacekeeping training at the Kofi Annan Peace Training Centre and the numerous support from various German governance institutions.
President Mahama also lauded the government of the Netherlands for supporting Ghana's school feeding programme.
Mohammed Maija (left), Malian Ambassador to Ghana, with President John Dramani Mahama
With regards to Italy, President Mahama said It had been a great partner of Ghana and over the years, cooperation had grown to cover small and medium-term enterprise support and agriculture.
He said attention was now being focused on agro-food processing.
The incoming Netherlands Ambassador to Ghana, Gerald Strikker (left) and President John Mahama in a discussion