Prez Mahama ends Botswana visit
President John Dramani Mahama ended his three-day state visit to Botswana yesterday, after inaugurating that country’s largest dam in Dikgatlhong in the northern part of Botswana.
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The dam would produce 400 million cubic metres of water for a catchment area of 7,810 kilometres.
In attendance was host President Khama Ian Khama.
Speaking at the inauguration of the dam last Tuesday, President Mahama stressed the need for African leaders to be innovative in providing the water needs of their citizenry.
"Africa is the most rapidly growing urban continent and, therefore, the need for water for consumption, industry and business is also growing on a daily basis," he said.
Ghana’s water sector
On the Ghana situation, President Mahama said in the bid to provide adequate water for more Ghanaians, the government was financing the construction of boreholes, small town water projects, among other water projects, across the country.
The President commended the government of Botswana for the construction of the dam, which would provide potable water for the entire country, and urged the country to make judicious use of the project.
He commended President Khama for good leadership and for making Botswana’s per capita income and transparency the highest in Africa.
President Mahama said his visit to Botswana was to reciprocate President Khama's visit to Ghana in 2011 and gave an assurance that the visit would leverage the relations between the two countries.
He noted that the construction of the dam would help Botswana to achieve its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) target on water and sanitation.
Botswanan Minister of Minerals
The Botswanan Minister of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources, Mr Onkokame Kitso Mokaila, said his government was determined to provide potable water across the country.
President Mahama also visited two diamond factories and polishing companies.
The companies – Diamond Trading Company of Botswana and Eurostar Diamond Polishing Company – apart from adding value to the diamond mined in the country, also employ thousands of citizens of Botswana and beyond.
President Mahama, who was conducted round the two facilities, went through the processes and polishing stages, areas that could be replicated in the processing of Ghana's gold and other minerals.
He was accompanied by the First Lady, Madam Lordina; the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Ms Hanna Tetteh; the Minister of Education, Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang; the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Nii Osah-Mills, and Ghana's High Commissioner to Namibia, Alhaji Abdul-Rahman Haruna Attah, among other dignitaries.
During his three-day stay in the southern African country, President Mahama held bilateral discussions with the host President, Ian Khama, and signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on political consultations.
From George-Ramsey Benamba, GNA Special Correspondent in Botswana