Ghana wants to deepen relations with US - Kufuor

Accra, May 8, GNA - President John Agyekum Kufuor has welcomed the sister-city relations between the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) and Washington DC, describing it as the "icing of the cake" of Ghana-United States (US) friendship.

"The Governments of the two countries are close and working together and Ghana wants to deepen this relationship," he said, when the visiting Mayor of Washington DC, Mr Anthony Williams and his 32-member delegation called on him at the Castle, Osu, on Monday.

President Kufuor made reference to the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) from which, Ghana would draw about 500 million cedis after the signing the contract in July to modernise agriculture saying, "All these should strengthen our relations."

Mr Williams whose delegation, include businessmen and city officials has been holding discussions with the AMA Chief Executive, Mr Stanley Nii Adjiri Blankson on ways of enhancing the ties between their two cities. The two are billed to sign an agreement twinning Accra and Washington DC.

President Kufuor noted that under the leadership of Mr Williams, the US capital had undergone tremendous transformation, particularly in the area of sanitation and the management of the city's finances, which he had turned "from deep red to deep black."

He said management of finances posed the greatest challenge to many local governments the world over and that with Accra growing in leaps and bounds and the associated problems of poor sanitation and indiscriminate construction of buildings and structures even in water courses, Mr Williams and his team could impact some of the secrets of their success to his Ghanaian counterparts.

President Kufuor also asked the delegation to reach out to the Black America community in the US and to tell them about the good things in Africa.

Mr Williams, said members of the delegation recognised Ghana as their mother country and pointed out that the two capital cities could learn from each other in the fields of culture, health and education. They could also work together and forge richer partnerships in the development of infrastructure for greater sanitation. He said the partnership would be enriched by the shared ideals of the two countries.