Mills Gets Catholic Support

THE GHANA Catholic Bishops Conference (GCBC) has assured President John Evans Atta Mills of its support especially in the areas of education, healthcare, development, social welfare and the promotion of justice and peace.

According to the Bishops, the President supported them when they raised their voices for the reintroduction of Religious and Moral Education into the school timetable, saying, “you supported the idea”.

The Bishops, led by the Most Reverend Lucas Abadanloora, President of the GCBC, were at the Castle to congratulate the President and wish him well in the task ahead.

“We promise our collaboration in this area to regenerate the religious, moral and ethical fabric of our society especially among the youth.”

The Bishops commended President Mills for his promise to be a “father to all and your determination to unite the country as exemplified in the National Thanksgiving Services held recently at your request.”

To the Bishops, a nation that does not have God as her refuge is lost, adding that it was reassuring to hear the President's  proposal to set aside the first Sunday in February of each year for a National Thanksgiving Day.

Also at the Castle were officials of the Cadbury Cocoa Partnership from the United Kingdom led by the British High Commissioner to Ghana, Dr. Nicholas Westcott and Todd Stitzer, Chief Executive Officer of Cadbury.

Other members of the delegation included James Boateng, Managing Director of Cadbury Ghana, David Croft, Tony Fernandez, Alan Palmer, Alison Ward, Alex Cole and Anna Swaithes.

Mr. Stitzer informed the President that Cadbury officials were in the country to mark the Centenary Anniversary when the company's started doing cocoa business with Ghana.

He said Ghana's cocoa was the most preferred in the chocolate and other cocoa-related products in the UK and the world at large.

Mr. Stitzer mentioned that the UK continues to use about two-thirds of Ghana's cocoa beans in its confectionery.

He announced that having established such a business relationship with the country for the past 100 years, it was important to invest more in the country, and called for greater cooperation between Cadbury and the government to ensure that many of the cocoa producing centres benefited largely from Cadbury's many investment projects.

For his part, the President told Cadbury of its importance in the socio-economic development of the country with emphasis on cocoa production.

He called for greater cooperation between Ghana and Cadbury to provide jobs for people and increase investment in the country.

The other groups that called on the President were the Ghana Federation of the Disabled (GFD) led by its President, Samuel Kwesi Asare.

One of the members, Benjamin Nyamekye, presented a portrait of the President he painted himself even though he is without limbs.

By Wisdom Peter Awuku