Barack O'Ghana!

.... Obama arrives for Ghana visit on Friday night
President Barack Hussein Obama, the 44th President of the United States of America, is due to arrive at the Kotoka International Airport in Accra on Friday night for a two-day visit.

That would be first ever official visit for the first ever African-American President of the United States to Africa south of the Sahara and the entry point is the first African country to gain independence south of the Sahara.


The significance of Ghana as his first entry point also lies in the fact that Ghana houses one of the major slave castles, Cape Coast Castle, where slaves from Africa went through "The Gate of No Return" to the Americas and Europe.


That gate is now renamed The Gate of Return and, like many other African-Americans, President Obama returns through that gate. President John Evans Atta Mills and the first lady, Mrs. Naadu Mills will be at the airport to welcome President Obama and his wife, Michelle.


Business for the visit begins on Saturday July 11, with a special welcoming ceremony at the Castle, where he would hold closed-door bilateral talks with President Mills.


President Obama would then be hosted to a big breakfast for about 300 guests, including former presidents Jerry John Rawlings and Mr. John Agyekum Kufuor, as well as the presidential contestants of the 2008 elections, leadership of the religious bodies, traditional councils, civil society and business communities.

He would then pay a brief visit to the La General Hospital briefly in Accra, before moving to the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC), where Parliament would be convened to hear his formal address. While at the AICC, President Obama would make a major policy statement that is expected to redefine America's relationship with Africa.


In line with his earlier pronouncements that his presidency would seek to assist Africa to reach the point where its citizens would be proud to stay and work on the continent, he would be expected, through his policy statement in Ghana, to set the tone for equal partnership between America and Africa, just like he has done elsewhere.


The major address ends President Obama's official activities in Accra. He then moves to Cape Coast, the capital city of the Central Region, where he would be welcomed by the Ghana's own Obama, Vice President John Dramani Mahama and given a private tour of the Cape Coast Castle.


President Obama and his wife would be expected to go through the emotional experience at the gate of no return, after which he would call on chiefs and people of Cape Coast and Mrs. Obama would be enstooled a Queen mother.


He would then depart for the KIA where he and his host would give brief remarks before he boards Air Force One back to the United States.