German President arrives for official visit on Thursday

Accra, Jan. 9, GNA - German President Horst Kohler arrives in Accra for a four-day official visit to the country on Thursday, January 11.

To be accompanied by the wife Eva, he would hold bilateral talks with President John Agyekum Kufuor at the Castle, Osu; pay a courtesy call on Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, Asantehene, at his Manhyia Palace and visit the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) to discuss issues on the brain drain with the students.


President Kohler would also participate in the second conference of the "Partnership with Africa" from the January 12 to January 14 at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, Teshie Accra, on the theme: "Two Generations-One Future."


The conference is a sequel to the first Africa Conference the German President convened in Bonn in November 2005, where he launched the Africa Partnership Initiative.


President Kufuor and President Kohler are programmed to interact with about 50 young leaders from Germany and Africa at the Conference. Some other African leaders including President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria; Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf; President Festus Mogae of Bostwana; Mr Alpha Oumar Konare, President of the African Union and Dr Mohammed Ibn Chambas, President of the ECOWAS Commission, would also be attending.

Mr Andrews Awuni, President Kufuor's Press Secretary, told a Castle press briefing on Tuesday that issues to be deliberated on would involve the environment and management of the natural world; armed conflict and everyday violence; educational opportunities and employment prospects and democratic participation. Bilateral relations between Ghana and Germany have always been good.


In June 2002 President Kufuor paid a four-day official visit to Germany. The then German Chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder, also made a reciprocal visit to Ghana.


Mr Awuni used the occasion to convey President Kufuor's gratefulness to the Chief Imam, the entire Muslim community and Christian Congregations in Ghana, for their prayers for the country and the Jubilee anniversary.


He appealed to all, who called on the name of God to pray earnestly and fervently that the Jubilee year would also mark the country's time of rest from her labour. 9 Jan. 2007