President Mahama leaves for AU Jubilee, two-nation tour

President John Dramani Mahama left Accra for Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, yesterday to attend the 50th anniversary of the African Union (AU).

At the Kotoka International Airport to see the President off were the Vice-President, Mr Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur; the Chief of Staff, Mr Prosper Douglas Bani; the Minister of Defence, Mr Mark Woyongo; the National Security Coordinator, Lt Col Larry Gbevlo-Lartey, and the Chief of the Defence Staff, Rear Admiral Mathew Quashie.

President Mahama was scheduled to attend the funeral of the Nigerian author, Chinua Achebe in his hometown of Ogidi in the east of Nigeria before proceeding to Ethiopia.

The 50th anniversary of the AU, which is expected to facilitate and celebrate African narratives of the past, will be anchored on the theme, "Pan Africanism and the African Renaissance".

The President is billed to make a statement at the plenary session of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) and make another statement at the main session.

After the AU Summit, President Mahama is also scheduled to pay a state visit to France.

Thereafter, he will leave for Tokyo, Japan to attend the fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD).

Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru