Ghana re-elected to AU Peace & Security Council

Agyepong dismisses JJ's assassination plot story Accra, Jan 26, GNA - Ghana has been re-elected to serve on the Peace and Security Council of the African Union (AU), Mr Kwabena Agyepong, Press Secretary and Presidential Spokesperson, said at a Castle press briefing in Accra on Thursday.

This, he said, was at the Union's just-ended Summit held at Khartoum, Sudan, where the security situation at the continent's flash points, including C=F4te d'Ivoire, Congo and Sudan were critically assessed.

The post-conflict era of Liberia was also brought into focus and the common standpoint of the African leaders was that the international community should redeem all pledges of financial support made to the country to help speed up its rebuilding efforts.

Mr Agyepong touched on Ghana's submission to be reviewed by his peers at the Summit and said President John Agyekum Kufuor felt a deep sense of fulfilment as it sent positive signals about a re-emerging Africa, determined to shed its past image.

He said it was the belief of President Kufuor that the welfare of the individual citizen should take centre stage in politics on the continent.

On the near air disaster involving the President and his entourage in Tripoli, Libya, while en route to Khartoum to attend the Summit, Mr Agyepong conveyed the gratitude of President Kufuor to the entire nation for the concern and support.

He was quick to point out that the government had not taken any decision to purchase a new Presidential Jet.

The incident was purely technical and "the President is always thankful to God for all travel mercies".

Mr Agyepong also responded to questions relating to reports in sections of the Ghanaian media about a plot to assassinate former President Jerry John Rawlings and said its timing showed that it was calculated to coincide with Ghana's peer review just to switch the spotlight from that historic activity.

He said there was absolutely nothing to gain by taking the life of the former President.

He said they would rather want him to live longer to taste and see the beauty of good governance.

On another question about the Dagbon chieftaincy crisis, the Press Secretary said it was important for all to recognise the various attempts by the government to resolve the difficult situation, citing the Wuaku Commission and the Committee of Eminent Chiefs. He said it would continue to encourage the feuding factions to be accommodating of each other and to see the need for a resolution. Meanwhile, President Kufuor would chair a Ministerial meeting on Monday on the Millennium Challenge Account that is expected to earn Ghana close to 500 million dollars to support the development of the country's agriculture.

Awutu-Senya, Savelugu-Nangtom and the Afram Plains are the areas selected to benefit from this support.