Bush Invites Kufuor
The governments of several nations around the world are inviting President Kufuor to visit and be honoured by their countries as he prepares to end his eight-year rule of Ghana.
In the letters of invitation, the governments described President Kufuor as a model for democratic leadership, showering praises on him for his contribution to peace-building in West Africa and the whole African continent.
However, a statement said though the President would wish to honour all the invitations, his tight schedule as well as the approaching political campaign for the 2008 election “will make it impossible for him to do so”.
He has in the meantime accepted the invitation of the governments of Germany, USA and the Netherlands and would visit these countries in August, September and October.
In a related development, President Kufuor would join the government and people of Trinidad and Tobago for the celebration of this year's Emancipation Day.
The Day, described as a monumental Pan-African festival is celebrated annually in Trinidad and Tobago to mark the end of slavery on August 1, 1838.
This year, President Kufuor has been invited as a special guest of honour.
This is due to the fact that an African leader is elected every year to be the special guest of honour for the festival that is known as a true celebration of Africa outside Africa.
This year's celebration, which starts on July 31 and ends on August 3, 2008, has the theme “Crossing New Frontiers to Conquer Today's Challenges”, and would be marked with lectures by representatives from Africa on the topic, “Africa and its Diaspora”.
While in Port of Spain, the capital of Trinidad and Tobago, President Kufuor would hold bilateral meetings with that country's Prime Minister, Patrick Manning.
The two are expected to hold discussions on issues of mutual interest and also revive economic cooperation between the two countries.
The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the Southern Caribbean, lying northeast of the South American nation of Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles.
A statement signed by the Press Secretary to the President, Andrew Awuni, said from Trinidad and Tobago, President Kufuor, who has been invited by the government of China, would continue to Beijing to participate in the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympic Games.
The President is expected back home on August 10, 2008.
In another development, a 22-member delegation from the Chinese-Europe Business International School was at the Castle, Osu on Monday to inform the President about their intention to establish an African campus in Ghana.
The leader of the delegation, Professor Pedro Nueno, who is also the Executive President of the School, told President Kufuor that Ghana was selected after consultations and research.
Accompanying the delegation was a Ghanaian Professor in Shanghai, China, Professor Kweku Gyimah who suggested that the African campus of the school, which is known as one of the leading business schools in the world, be sited in Ghana.
In response, President Kufuor expressed joy that Ghana, being the gateway to West Africa, had been selected for the African Project and promised government's support.
Professor Paul Nyame of the Physicians and Surgeons College, who was with the group, told DAILY GUIDE that the African Campus of the China-Europe Business International School, which starts operation in March 2009, would be located at the College's premises.
On Tuesday, two ambassadors were at the Castle to inform the President about their end of duty tour and bid him farewell.
They were Pierre Jacquemot and Masamichi Ishikawa, the French and Japanese ambassadors to Ghana respectively.
By Emelia Ennin Abbey