Kufuor meets American University delegation

Accra, Jan. 5, GNA - President John Agyekum Kufuor on Thursday granted audience to a delegation of the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore, United States of America (USA), which is in the country to follow up on its programme to establish a Centre of Excellence for Policy Development and Analysis at Peki in the Volta Region.

It is envisioned that the Centre would not only provide training for future leaders, but also offer an opportunity for renowned scientists in Africa, who are so busy and have little or no time to write their memoirs to do that and mentor the youth.

Dr Thelma B. Thompson, President and Chief Executive Officer of the University, who led the delegation informed President Kufuor that they were ready to look for funding and would want Government support in the provision of infrastructure like electricity and water. The American University already has partnership programmes with the University of Cape Coast (UCC) on Hotel and Tourism and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) on Cultural Tourism.

Dr Thompson said their association with the UCC started in 1998 and that every year two top students pursuing hospitality programmes were selected to complete their course in America. Twelve of them have so far graduated.

President Kufuor said he could visualize the beginning of a University in that part of the country and assured the delegation of Government's full co-operation.

He expressed appreciation to the American University for what it had been doing through its counterparts in Ghana to help to move the nation forward.

Another source of happiness to President Kufuor, he said, was the fact that the Vice President of the University of Maryland, Dr Emmanuel Acquah, was a Ghanaian and had been instrumental in getting the Americans into the country.

"As much as we all bemoan the brain drain, there could be positive uses. For a Ghanaian to rise to become the Vice President of an American University and lure the University to come to help the country is a symbol of its positive use."