Govt appreciates remittances of Ghanaians abroad

HE Mr. Isaac Osei, Ghana’s High Commissioner in the UK has said in London that the Government appreciates the remittances of Ghanaians abroad because they assist in the national development effort by making “interest free and conditionality free access to foreign exchange”.

He said the Government would therefore not relent in its effort to create a conducive environment for the smooth operations of money transfer schemes to the country.

Speaking at two fund-raising events involving the Atwima Koroye Kuo and Morso Club of the UK, Mr. Osei said he was optimistic that the level of remittances could reach the US $ 1 billion mark in the future from its present level of US$ 530 Million as at September this year.

Mr Osei, therefore, urged Ghanaians to continue to use legitimate channels for the transfer of monies to enable the Government have access to the required resources for development projects.

He praised the two associations for making financial and material contributions available for the development of their communities and urged them to consider widening the areas of their assistance.

On the economy, Mr Osei said Government’s programmes to reverse the downward trend of the economy, since it assumed office, was on course and recounted the substantial gains in sectors such as agriculture, education, health and infrastructure.

He said as a result of the re-alignment of the economic structures, confidence in the economy had been restored. Mr Osei, therefore, assured his audience that the people of Ghana would in the not too distant future reap benefits from the seeds nurtured by the Government of the New Patriotic Party.

On the spate of armed robberies in certain parts of the country, Mr Osei said the law would catch up with the criminals and announced that appropriate strategies had been devised by Government to deal with the situation.

Mr Osei assured Ghanaians abroad that the Government would not shirk its responsibility to protect life and properties of citizens and foreign residents. At another fund-raising event organised by the Diamond club of UK, Mr Kwabena Baah-Duodu, Deputy High Commissioner, urged the members of the club to use its hard-earned reserves to undertake strategic development projects in any part of the country.

He urged club members to continue to remain united and eschew tendencies, which would run contrary to the aims and objectives of the club.

Mr Baah-Duodu praised the members for their dedication, unity of purpose and discipline which, he said, should serve as an inspiration to all Ghanaian clubs and groups in the UK.

The event provided an opportunity for members of the club to ask questions on developments at home. Some of the questions and comments centred on the need to set up special courts to handle cases involving armed robberies, the tightening of security at the airport to avert future occurrence of ”stowaway” cases on aircrafts leaving Ghana and the speedy processing of dual citizenship applications, which were duly answered by the Deputy High Commissioner.

The Mission was represented by Mr Charles Wereko, Counsellor/Information at another event organised by the Express Funds Money Transfer for its agents and clients. The well-attended event drew participants from a cross section of the Ghanaian community and blacks in the Diaspora.

In his remarks, Mr David Anderson, Marketing Manager of the company, thanked Ghanaians and friends of Ghana for their support and patronage. He added that continuous usage of the services of the company was a sure guarantee that the foreign exchange component would eventually reach the Government for major projects and for social developments at home in the interest of the people.

He announced that the company would in the coming year continue with its expansion policy to bring the service of the company at the doorstep of the people in the UK, thus creating job openings for Ghanaians.