African Union at 50th

President John Dramani Mahama will leave Accra on Thursday to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to take part in activities to commemorate the 50thAnniversary of the formation of the Organisation of African Unity, now the Africa Union. A statement signed by Deputy Minister for Information Felix Kwakye Ofosu, said the President, while in Addis Ababa, would take part in a forum of Heads of State and Governments on the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM). “President Mahama is expected to share with colleague heads of state, Ghana’s experience, learning and benefits from the APRM,” the statement noted. With many of the continent’s leaders looking up to him to champion a number of causes, President Mahama is expected to hold a number of meetings and also address the AU session on the way forward for the continent; enhancing security, improving human settlement and the fight against HIV and AIDS. Accompanying the President is the First Lady, Lordina Mahama, who will be attending a summit of the Organisation of African First Ladies Against HIV & AIDS in Addis Ababa. From Ethiopia, President Mahama will pay a three‐day state visit to France at the invitation of President François Hollande and also attend the fifth TICAD Conference in Japan.

Italian Government is to release initial 10 million to support growth of small business

Laura Carpini with Haruna Iddrisu in a discussion The Italian Government is to release initial €10 million to support the growth of Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (SMEs) in Ghana through a Credit Facility. This was disclosed when the Italian Ambassador, Laura Carpini paid a visit to Trade & Industry Minister, Haruna Idrissu at his office this morning. Ghanaian-Italian Project was established in 2003 to provide support to the small and medium enterprises in Ghana. Their discussions also focused on how to improve economic relations between the two countries especially the balance of trade, which is in favour of Italy and investment. The two identified areas such as agro-processing, jewellery production, leather-related industry, energy, agriculture and infrastructure where the two countries could benefit from joint partnerships. Haruna Idrissu, in a remark, said the position of government is to improve infrastructure through Public Private Partnership (PPP). On energy, Trade and Industry Minister said the interest of Government is in the generation of power to support the growth of business and gave the assurance that government will provide strategic incentives where necessary to investors. On her part, Ambassador Laura Carpini gave the assurance that Italian investors would respect the laws of Ghana and pledged that under no circumstances would the investors flout any of our laws. She said Italy will continue to support Ghana in diverse ways to deepen the cooperation between the two countries.

Ohene in accra

The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, yesterday stormed the capital city, Accra, with a retinue of chiefs on what appears to be a peace mission during which he met political gladiators of the country. Otumfuo Osei Tutu said he was in Accra to deliver a public lecture put together by the National Council for Civic Education (NCCE), under the theme, ‘Advancing Together’, which was part of its annual Democracy Lectures. He however seized the opportunity to meet some key and influential people in the country, namely President John Dramani Mahama, whose election is being disputed in court, former President Jerry John Rawlings and Presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the 2012 general elections, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. Unfortunately, he could not meet former President John Agyekum Kufuor since he was out of the country. One thing that ran through his discussions with all three political leaders was the ongoing election petition before the Supreme Court. He urged all the parties to abide by the outcome of the court process. First was his meeting with President Mahama at the Flagstaff House where he urged the President to do all it takes to surmount the myriad of problems facing the nation, chief among which was unemployment and what had come to be known as ‘dumsor-dumsor’, the intermittent power outages that had beset the nation. *Flagstaff House*President Mahama seeing off Otumfuo Osei Tutu President Mahama seeing off Otumfuo Osei Tutu President Mahama on his part stressed the belief that the court process would unite Ghanaians more than it would divide them. “At a time when people think the nation is being buffeted by some uncertainty as a result of this court case, I do think it strengthens our democracy that even though we have a dispute, or somebody contesting the results of the elections, he has decided to go to court and we are giving the court the opportunity to listen to his grievance and find out whether it is genuine or not. “I think that it goes to strengthen our democracy that Ghana continues to show the way in terms of good governance, democracy and rule of law,” he was quoted as saying. *Rawlings’ Advice*Otumfuo Osei Tutu interacting with Mr and Mrs Rawlings Otumfuo Osei Tutu interacting with Mr and Mrs Rawlings From there, the Asantehene and his entourage went to meet former President Rawlings at his Ridge office where the NDC founder called on commentators on the election petition to present the facts as they were being told in court and desist from twisting and reshaping facts to fit into people’s prejudices and political agenda. This, he said, was in view of the fact that twisted or misshaped information would not augur well for Ghana’s future and stability. “It is beginning to seem as if people are listening only to what they want to hear and not the findings and evidence that are being provided daily; this is not right,” Mr Rawlings noted. On his part, the Asantehene commended Mr Rawlings for the role he played in reinstituting constitutional democratic governance. Present at the meeting were Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings and spokesman for Mr Rawlings, Kofi Adams. *Nana Addo’s Commitment* Otumfuo and members of his delegation then moved to the Nima residence of Nana Akufo-Addo where he was met on arrival by his host and other high ranking members of the NPP. After the exchange of conviviality, the two went into discussions during which Otumfuo commended the NPP leader and his supporters for taking the noble decision to challenge the outcome of the 2012 elections in court and not on the streets with protests. He therefore asked not only Nana Akufo-Addo but all the parties involved in the ongoing election petition to do well in the spirit of nationalism to accept the outcome of the Supreme Court ruling. As always, the NPP leader pledged his party’s commitment to whatever the outcome of the court case would be since they believed in the rule of law. That notwithstanding, he said, “I’m confident that when the truth comes out, that is what will bring the peace and unity that we all seek in Ghana.” Nana Akufo-Addo therefore asked the Ashanti King to advise whoever was involved in the case before the Supreme Court to also accept the verdict in good faith. Nana Addo reiterated his commitment to maintaining and supporting the peace prevailing in the country. According to him, NPP members and supporters would not indulge in any acts that would destabilise the country. He told Otumfuo Osei Tutu that the good record of the NPP was there to show that they were a peace-loving party, and had always accepted the outcome of elections organized by the Electoral Commission. He however pointed out that the party decided to go to court this time around because of the widespread irregularities that characterized the 2012 December general elections. Flanked by his wife, Mrs. Rebecca Akufo-Addo, Dr. Bawumia, Party Chairman Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey and a host of other party officials, Nana Akufo-Addo said the irregularities that characterized the 2012 December general elections could not make the results a true reflection of the will of Ghanaians. “We respect and believe in the Supreme Court, that is why we have petitioned them and we will accept any decision or verdict they make,” he said. By Charles Takyi-Boadu

Ghana commends Canada

Mahama commends CanadaPublished on May 15, 2013 The Governor General of Canada is on a state visit to Ghana The Governor General of Canada is on a state visit to Ghana President John Dramani Mahama on Tuesday commended the Canadian Government for continuously supporting Ghana in her development agenda, particularly in health, water and agriculture, over the years. He said, “Canada through the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) has become a household name, especially rural Northern Ghana, for its support in the provision of potable water, health facilities and food security.” President Mahama gave this commendation when he held a joint news conference with David Johnston, Governor General, who was on a three-day working visit to Ghana. The President said the Canadian Government had also partnered Ghana through the establishment of the Northern Regional Integrated Programme (NORRIP) to ensure provision of water and health facilities as well as promotion of agriculture for the rural areas. He said the Canadian Government through the Canadian Commercial Cooperation had also supported Ghana in the construction of a thermal plant that had added 130 megawatts of electricity to the national grid. The President said the Cooperation was expected to support Ghana to complete another 130 megawatts of electricity in the coming months. President Mahama indicated that the next collaboration between the two countries would be in the areas of rail, sea and aviation transport and agriculture where Canada had the comparative advantage over Ghana. He said “Government spends 11.5 percent of Ghana’s income on agriculture and it will therefore collaborate more with Canada that has tremendous experience in agricultural production”. Mr Johnston commended Ghana for her strides in politics, governance and economic growth over the years. “This country is a leader among African Nations. Canada is proud of its ties with Ghana, our partner in the Commonwealth and in numerous spheres of society, and together we share the goal of building smarter, more caring societies and a fairer, more just world. We have many values and aspirations in common,” he said. Mr Johnson expressed satisfaction that Ghana and Canada were currently collaborating in the areas of post-secondary education, which he said would create an enabling environment for jobs to be created for many school leavers in the country. “The Canadian organizations are also working alongside their Ghanaian counterparts to promote volunteerism and corporate social responsibility… and Canadians and Ghanaians have so much to learn from and offer each other.” Mr Johnson said Ghana had made solid economic gains in recent years that had been noticed around the world, including Canada and many Canadian firms and enterprises had found Ghana to be a positive place to do business. Apart from laying wreaths on the tombs of late President Kwame Nkrumah and his wife, the Governor General also held talks with President Mahama, visited the University of Ghana, and would be leaving for Kumasi on Wednesday.