Ghana’s Ambassador To Japan, H. E. Mr. Edmond Kofi Deh At The Inauguration Of NDC Japan Branch
The Speech of Ghana`s Ambassador to Japan, H. E. Mr. Edmond Kofi Deh,
On the occasion of the Inauguration of the Japan Branch of the National Democratic Congress (NDC)
On Sunday ,13th October 2013
Mr. Chairman,
Hon. Representatives of the National Executive Committee Of the NDC
Hon. Chairman, Executive Committee of Japan Branch /Chapter of the N.D.C.,
Hon. Chairpersons and members of the Executive Committees of other Ghanaian political parties Japan ,Branches /chapters,
Distinguished leaders of all Ghanaian religious groups ,distinguished invited Guests
Distinguished ladies and gentlemen
It gives me great pleasure to participate in today`s function following the invitation so kindly extended to me by the organizers in the capacity of Guest of Honour.
On the outset let me express my profound gratitude to the Hon. Chairman and the Executive committee members of the Japan Branch of the N.D.C. for the kind invitation they so thoughtfully extended to me.
I also wish to avail myself this opportunity to formally welcome the N.D.C. Official Delegation that has travelled all the way from Ghana to perform the formal inauguration of the Japan Chapter/Branch of the N.D.C.
The importance of todays inaugural ceremony cannot be over emphasized.
The N.D.C. Japan Branch can henceforth boast of of having been formally established like other branches of the party in other countries including the United States of America,Great Britain and Germany amongst others.
The importance of the event may also have been reflected as part of the deepening of the democratic dispensation that has been prevailing in Ghana for some years now and in which Ghanaians in the Diaspora(outside the country) have a major role to play.
I therefore wish to commend the Hon. Chairman of the Japan Branch of the N.D.C. ,all the Executive Committee members as well as the generality of the membership of the Japan Chapter for the various roles they played toward the realization of this event.
Indeed ,Ghana`s democratic credentials ,characterised by six successful multiparty free and fair elections since 1992 and peaceful transfer of political power from one political administration to the other has won the country a place of price and great respect throughout the world as one of the most democratic nations in Africa if not in the world.
Undoubtedly, the recent Supreme Court verdict has also gone a long way to further enhance those democratic credentials.
Distinguished Ladies and gentlemen, it is also heartwarming to note that over the past two decades , Ghana`s economy has consistently witnessed such positive growth as to attain middle income status in the year 2010. In the year 2011 Ghana registered a record 14.4% GDP growth rate and has since then maintained it`s ranking among the 10 fastest growing economies in the world.
Mr. Chairman, distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,My dear compatriots,
All the above achievements could not have been realised without the positive contributions in the form of remittances and participation in the socio-political discourse that Ghana secures from her nationals living abroad , including those living here in Japan.
Successive Governments of Ghana have been very grateful for the immense contributions from the Diaspora to the socio-economic development of the country, and I wish to convey to you all here in Japan the profound appreciation of the NDC headed currently by H.E. President John Dramani Mahama for contributions you have been making in that regard.
Ladies and Gentlemen, As you are all aware Ghana Relations date back to 1927 when Dr. Noguchi, the renowned Japanese scientist was in Ghana to conduct research into yellow fever and lost his life to that same disease in May, 1928.
Ever since the relations which were formalised by the attachment of diplomatic relations after Ghana`s attachment formalised in 1957 have grown on leaps and bounds at the political economic, technical and cultural fronts.
At the political front there has been the frequent exchange of high level visits . The most recent of which was the visit of the President ,H.e. John Dramani MAHAMA ,to Japan in June this year to participate in the Fifth Tokyo International Conference on Africa`s Development(TICAD).
I wish to avail myself of this opportunity to express thanks and profound appreciation to each and every Ghanaian in Japan , particularly the Chairman and the Executive Committee of the NDC Japan Branch for the diverse forms of assistance and support they provided to the Embassy to make the visit of the President and his Delegation a success.
Many Thanks.
Kindly permit me to state that some of the principal functions of the Embassy and therefore that of the Ambassador and of his officers are to foster friendly and mutually beneficial cooperation between Ghana and Japan to seek protection and promotion of the interests and welfare of Ghana and its nationals residing in Japan and to harness support for the implementation of the pg 14..........
To this end I wish to assure you that the doors of the Embassy are open to all our nationals.
It is important to also remind all our nationals living in Japan that we are all expected to respect the rules and regulations and laws of the host country and always endeavor to comport ourselves in such a manner as to raise high the flag of Ghana.
It is my ambition to mobilise the Ghanaian community in Japan under the umbrella of the association that can amongst others ,work towards the defence,protection and promotion of the welfare of its members and also pull resources towards the required socio-economic development of our homeland Ghana, through the encouragement and assistance to strategic Japanese economic greatness to invest in Ghana.
I am therefore particularly happy to note that this function has registered the participation of the leaderships of various groupings of the Ghanaian community whom namely political parties, religious leaders etc, the Embassy can easily establish contacts with for the mobilisation of the generality of our nationals towards events of national character eg. For assistance during National Day Celebration, important visits from and to Ghana, important trade and investment promotion events etc.
Before I conclude, I wish to urge the newly sworn in Executive Committee members of the NDC Japan Branch to take their various responsibilities seriously.Similarly it is expected that the general membership of the Branch will cooperate freely with the Executive Committee for the realization of the objectives and goals for which the Branch has been established and I believe the massive mobilisation including the material resources from Japan towards the successful implementation of the Better Ghana Agenda of the NDC back home.
On that note I wish the newly inaugurated chapter all the best.
Thank you all for your kind attention.