President Kufuor in Toronto - Eye Witness Account

It was a great opportunity to have been at the at the Howard Johnson Hotel for a Townhall Meeting with Pres. J. A. Kuffour and Ghanaians living in Toronto on Sat. Nov. 2, 2001. As usual, the organization of the event could have been improved. In fact the venue was small considering the number of people who attended (estimated 1500) Most people had to stand for about 2 hours because there were not enough chairs. Worse was when those who came early to secure seats were asked to vacate their seats for VIPs.

That said, the crowd was brought to life when the President arrived with his entourage. The event was hosted by Mr. Charles Amoama-Agyei, NPP Canada’s Chairman. The Ghana Methodist Church Choir gave a great rendition of the national anthems of Ghana and Canada. This was followed by Christian prayers by Rev. Omane Agyapong (of the Methodist Church) and Moslem prayers by the chief Imam. It was rude of people who openly showed disrespect when the Moslem prayers were being held.

Dr. Martin La-Kumi, the Consul General in Toronto introduced Ghana’s Outgoing High Commissioner to Ottaw, H. E. Oliver Lawluvi. A welcome speech was given H.E. Mr. Lawluvi in which he stated that Ghanaians in Canada were privileged to have Prez Kuffour, the first Ghanaian Head of State since independence to pay an official visit to Canada. And it was good of the president to have stopped over to listen to expatriates in Toronto on his way to meet Prime Minister Chretien and Andrienne Clarkson the Governor General .

Some of the President’s entourage included his wife Mrs. Theresa Kuffour, Mr. Hackman Owusu (The Foreign Minister), Mr. Agambila (Deputy Minister of Finance) Ms. Elizabeth Ohene, and two other staff at the Presidency. A crew from GTV was also present.

Cultural Performances were given by the energetic Ewe Dancers, and the Sekyereman group.

In his speech, Pres. Kuffour recalled with nostalgia that it was the same venue where, in 1996, the Friends of Kuffour Club inspired him to run as a Presidential Candidate. In a semi State of the Nation Address which lasted for about 20 to 25 minutes, the President recalled how there was little money left in the Ghana’s coffers upon assuming office, why his government chose the HIPC route, and policies to stabilize the cedi and curb inflation. He also spoke about the restoration of law and order in the country – giving as example the decrease in serial killings. He then announced that creation of a cassava processing plant at Bodwasi to create employment for about 2500 people. He talked about the success of the Homecoming Summit urging Ghanaians not to forget their homeland though they have settled elsewhere. Finally he announced (with much applause from the audience) the dual-citizenship Bill will be put before Parliament this Tuesday.

The Foreign Minister talked about how processing of visas and travelling documents have been made easier so that travellers would not experience undue delay when they want to come to Ghana.

Then the audience was given the chance to ask the President and his entourage questions of concern to them. Some asked interesting questions dealing with water privitization, africans in the diaspora, user fees at the university level, certain aspects of the dual-citizenship Bill, and importation of vehicles to Ghana.

Such questions as “: "when are you going to change the school uniforms of our children to the old style," “ will you punish those who commit crimes?” was were plainly embrassing. Even more disappointing were questions that had tribalistic connotations.

One gentleman asked the President “Will you fix the roads in the Volta Region or should we wait for another President to come before the Volta Roads are fixed?” Right after the President explained that the Volta Region had the right to be entitled to the same resources as any Region in Ghana, another ignorant person asked : “Mr. President, you have been president of the nation for 10 months. When will you fix (or reconstruct) the Accra – Kumasi Road?”

Over 40 people had lined up to questions questions such questions on MP cars, but they could not ask them because time had elapsed.

Overall, the Townhall was a success. The ignorance of some Ghanaians in Toronto was clearly evident. But I believe for a people who have spent half of their lives fearing their Heads of State, this Townhall Meeting was a historic occasion.

I give the organizers a pat on the back for the good job done, hoping that next time, the organizing would be much improved.

.....another account

by Papa Ankomah -- The evening was a great and momentous one for Ghanaians resident in Toronto. I was pleased and happy to hear our president talk and was glad he was not a loose canon like his predecessor. However, I was disappointed with his speech. The speech was heavy on rhetoric and light on substance. To be fair to him, he probably did not plan for a speech as he hinted to us, but for him to let such a rare opportunity slip by without touching on, and giving a picture of his vision for important policy items like health with its present 'cash and carry' chaos, the energy sector which clearly lacks any national direction, education where many of administrators appear to be fumbling around with pronouncements of fee increases because of lack of direction and leadership (this was touched on briefly in question time), our foreign policy which nobody seems to know what it is, and also give some clarity what the government is doing to promote the decentralization and strengthening of local governments to ensure the effective delivery of services to Ghanaians. In spite of these concerns of mine, I was happy to have such a well mannered person for a president.

The sour point of the evening came from two sources, the ranting and emotional screaming of one of the questioners and the emotional ‘Rawlings-like’ outburst of the Foreign Minister, Mr Hackman Owusu Agyemang. They were the two ‘dinks’ of the day. I don’t know why Mr Hackman Owusu Agyemang was given the platform. Whoever came up with the idea of having him on the platform goofed. The man had nothing sensible to add to the President’s speech and appeared, in observation to be hero-worshiping the President at his discomfort. He did not come across to me as a foreign minister, but a propaganda secretary of NPP.

Another advice I want to make the to organizers is that next time they organize such an event, they should get a moderator whose focus will be on the event and speakers rather than on himself. As if on an ego trip, the moderator introduced himself to the audience about five times during the two and half hour event.

It was a great opportunity to have been at the at the Howard Johnson Hotel for a Townhall Meeting with Pres. J. A. Kuffour and Ghanaians living in Toronto on Sat. Nov. 2, 2001. As usual, the organization of the event could have been improved. In fact the venue was small considering the number of people who attended (estimated 1500) Most people had to stand for about 2 hours because there were not enough chairs. Worse was when those who came early to secure seats were asked to vacate their seats for VIPs.

That said, the crowd was brought to life when the President arrived with his entourage. The event was hosted by Mr. Charles Amoama-Agyei, NPP Canada’s Chairman. The Ghana Methodist Church Choir gave a great rendition of the national anthems of Ghana and Canada. This was followed by Christian prayers by Rev. Omane Agyapong (of the Methodist Church) and Moslem prayers by the chief Imam. It was rude of people who openly showed disrespect when the Moslem prayers were being held.

Dr. Martin La-Kumi, the Consul General in Toronto introduced Ghana’s Outgoing High Commissioner to Ottaw, H. E. Oliver Lawluvi. A welcome speech was given H.E. Mr. Lawluvi in which he stated that Ghanaians in Canada were privileged to have Prez Kuffour, the first Ghanaian Head of State since independence to pay an official visit to Canada. And it was good of the president to have stopped over to listen to expatriates in Toronto on his way to meet Prime Minister Chretien and Andrienne Clarkson the Governor General .

Some of the President’s entourage included his wife Mrs. Theresa Kuffour, Mr. Hackman Owusu (The Foreign Minister), Mr. Agambila (Deputy Minister of Finance) Ms. Elizabeth Ohene, and two other staff at the Presidency. A crew from GTV was also present.

Cultural Performances were given by the energetic Ewe Dancers, and the Sekyereman group.

In his speech, Pres. Kuffour recalled with nostalgia that it was the same venue where, in 1996, the Friends of Kuffour Club inspired him to run as a Presidential Candidate. In a semi State of the Nation Address which lasted for about 20 to 25 minutes, the President recalled how there was little money left in the Ghana’s coffers upon assuming office, why his government chose the HIPC route, and policies to stabilize the cedi and curb inflation. He also spoke about the restoration of law and order in the country – giving as example the decrease in serial killings. He then announced that creation of a cassava processing plant at Bodwasi to create employment for about 2500 people. He talked about the success of the Homecoming Summit urging Ghanaians not to forget their homeland though they have settled elsewhere. Finally he announced (with much applause from the audience) the dual-citizenship Bill will be put before Parliament this Tuesday.

The Foreign Minister talked about how processing of visas and travelling documents have been made easier so that travellers would not experience undue delay when they want to come to Ghana.

Then the audience was given the chance to ask the President and his entourage questions of concern to them. Some asked interesting questions dealing with water privitization, africans in the diaspora, user fees at the university level, certain aspects of the dual-citizenship Bill, and importation of vehicles to Ghana.

Such questions as “: "when are you going to change the school uniforms of our children to the old style," “ will you punish those who commit crimes?” was were plainly embrassing. Even more disappointing were questions that had tribalistic connotations.

One gentleman asked the President “Will you fix the roads in the Volta Region or should we wait for another President to come before the Volta Roads are fixed?” Right after the President explained that the Volta Region had the right to be entitled to the same resources as any Region in Ghana, another ignorant person asked : “Mr. President, you have been president of the nation for 10 months. When will you fix (or reconstruct) the Accra – Kumasi Road?”

Over 40 people had lined up to questions questions such questions on MP cars, but they could not ask them because time had elapsed.

Overall, the Townhall was a success. The ignorance of some Ghanaians in Toronto was clearly evident. But I believe for a people who have spent half of their lives fearing their Heads of State, this Townhall Meeting was a historic occasion.

I give the organizers a pat on the back for the good job done, hoping that next time, the organizing would be much improved.

.....another account

by Papa Ankomah -- The evening was a great and momentous one for Ghanaians resident in Toronto. I was pleased and happy to hear our president talk and was glad he was not a loose canon like his predecessor. However, I was disappointed with his speech. The speech was heavy on rhetoric and light on substance. To be fair to him, he probably did not plan for a speech as he hinted to us, but for him to let such a rare opportunity slip by without touching on, and giving a picture of his vision for important policy items like health with its present 'cash and carry' chaos, the energy sector which clearly lacks any national direction, education where many of administrators appear to be fumbling around with pronouncements of fee increases because of lack of direction and leadership (this was touched on briefly in question time), our foreign policy which nobody seems to know what it is, and also give some clarity what the government is doing to promote the decentralization and strengthening of local governments to ensure the effective delivery of services to Ghanaians. In spite of these concerns of mine, I was happy to have such a well mannered person for a president.

The sour point of the evening came from two sources, the ranting and emotional screaming of one of the questioners and the emotional ‘Rawlings-like’ outburst of the Foreign Minister, Mr Hackman Owusu Agyemang. They were the two ‘dinks’ of the day. I don’t know why Mr Hackman Owusu Agyemang was given the platform. Whoever came up with the idea of having him on the platform goofed. The man had nothing sensible to add to the President’s speech and appeared, in observation to be hero-worshiping the President at his discomfort. He did not come across to me as a foreign minister, but a propaganda secretary of NPP.

Another advice I want to make the to organizers is that next time they organize such an event, they should get a moderator whose focus will be on the event and speakers rather than on himself. As if on an ego trip, the moderator introduced himself to the audience about five times during the two and half hour event.

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