Four out-going ambassadors pay farewell to President Mills

Accra, June 24, GNA - President John Evans Atta Mills on Thursday said Ghana would in no way look down upon the assistance received from her foreign partners but continue to nurture such partnership for mutual benefits.

Beaming with smiles of appreciation and with gifts of symbolical traditional stools and pieces of kente cloth for spouses of outgoing ambassadors, President Mills commended four nations whose ambassadors have finished their duty tours of Ghana.

He gave the assurance that Government would continue to maintain the bilateral ties with their home nations. The ambassadors are: Mr Seif Allah Mustafa Nosseir of Egypt, Dr Marias Haas of Germany, Mr Nicolas Lang of Switzerland, and Mr Yu Wenzhen of China. They took turns to pay courtesy call on President Mills at the Osu Castle, in Accra to announce the end of their duty tour.

Mr Nosseir expressed gratitude to the Government and people of Ghana for the hospitality accorded him during his four-year duty tour, and extended condolences to the victims and bereaved families of last Sunday flood disaster.

He noted that Ghana and Egypt lauded the bilateral ties that dated back to the reign of Ghana's First President, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, adding "the two nations experienced trade increase during his tenure of office". In addition, he said, there was the establishment of Egyptian Fund for Technical Co-operation, with an extension of Egyptian assistance in the training of police personnel and agricultural expertise. President Mills said Ghana appreciated whatever sacrifices Egypt had made on Ghana's behalf and sent warmest regards to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who assisted in laying the foundation for Ghana Satellites win of the Under-20 Football tournament in Angola.

"Thank you for the grooming you did for us," President Mills said.

President Mills said on a lighter note with the out-going German Ambassador, Dr Haas that Ghana was "deporting" him because of German's win over Ghana in last Wednesday's football encounter in the on-going FIFA World Cup Tournament in South Africa.

He placed Germany in a special category in Ghana's development and expressed appreciation for the technical assistance in the training of Ghanaian medical and other professionals. President Mills said Government would offer the same co-operation for his successor.

Dr Haas, who retires from diplomatic career after Ghana, said he was happy for retiring after his service in Ghana, and would carry fond memories of Ghana. The out-going Chinese Ambassador, Mr Yu said the two nations made progress in their relations, and completed some Chinese assisted projects, with others still on-going. President Mills congratulated him on a successful three-year duty tour, reminiscing that the relations between the two nations begun about 50 years ago.

He gave the assurance that Government would not allow anything to derail the relations between the two nations. Out-going Swiss Ambassador, Lang said, he had a good view of Ghanaian realities and praised her for hosting some international conferences, and receiving high profile personalities during his three-year duty tour. 24 June 10