The Ghanaian Minister of Foreign Affairs and NEPAD, Hon. Nana Addo Danquah Akuffo today held a press conference at the conference room of the Ministry of Information and Diasporean Relations in Accra, Ghana.
The press conference grouping over 50 journalists was aimed at briefing the media on the different activities that would take place parallel to the 9TH Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union Heads of State and Government. These include the First Ladies meeting on pandemics and other societal issues, the Heads of State Implementation meeting and the ministerial meeting on Candidatures.
Measures to facilitate mass coverage of the Summit by the media were also discussed during the press conference.
Present at the press conference was the Minister of Information and Diasporean Relations, Hon. Kwamena Bartels.
(Below is the opening Statement by Nana Akufo-Addo, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Ghana and Chairperson of the Executive Council of the Africa Union at the 11th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council in Accra - 28 June, 2007)
It is a distinct honour and a great pleasure for me to welcome, on behalf of the President of the Republic, His Excellency John Agyekum Kufuor, the Government and people of Ghana, all of you, friends and colleagues, to a meeting of the Executive Council of our Union here in our capital of Accra. Akwaaba, as you know, is our traditional word of welcome. Akwaaba to each and every one of you, and we hope that your stay amongst us will be enjoyable.
Excellencies,
Ghana is gratified that her peers decided to hold this Summit here at this high moment in her history, when she is celebrating this year the golden jubilee anniversary of her independence from British Colonial rule, the event that, under the dynamic leadership of our first President, Kwame Nkrumah, lit the torch for the liberation of our continent from imperialism and racist rule. We take the holding of this Summit in our capital as an exceptional mark of solidarity which we will always cherish.
At Addis Ababa, the Assembly of our Union, its highest decision¬ making organ, decided to devote this Summit to essentially a consideration of the future direction of our Union and its institutional framework in order to provide a clear foundation for our future progress as we seek the political and economic integration of our continent. Members of the Council will recall that in furtherance of that decision, the Council met, at the gracious invitation of the South African Government, in Durban to brainstorm the theme of the Summit so that we could assist our leaders in the Assembly to come to good conclusions. We shall at this meeting look at the results of the Durban retreat. Even though the Summit has a one-item Agenda, we, in this meeting of the Executive Council, will also look at several other matters which are pending before us, working as always in a spirit of consensus and co¬-operation.
It is my hope and expectation that our deliberations here will inure to the benefit of the African people, who are determined to escape the debilitating, dehumanising tentacles of mass poverty and to build a new Africa on the basis of the principles of democratic accountability, respect for human rights and the rule of law, and thereby to join the global movement for prosperity and dignity amongst the peoples of the world. We have to leave behind the Africa which has been described as the scar on the conscience of humanity. Africa and her peoples deserve much better than that. Once again, let me welcome you to our country and her capital, and trust that you will forgive any lapses of hospitality that you may suffer, for they will certainly not be intentional. Akwaaba and thank you
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