President seeks EU support for Ebola countries

President John Dramani Mahama on Friday appealed to the European Union and other Development Partners to support the Economic Community for West African States (ECOWAS) to fight the deadly Ebola virus disease in the region.

He said although some level of support was provided to ECOWAS, a lot more is needed to stem the spread of the disease in other countries.

President Mahama made the appeal when Mr William Hanna, new head of EU delegation presented his letter of credence to him at the Flagstaff House to begin his duty tour of Ghana.

Others who also presented their letters of credence to President Mahama are; Mr Karou Yoshimura, Japanese Ambassador, Mr Abdafatah Ahmed Khalil Alsattari, Palestinean Ambassador and Mr Mohammed Mostafa Heider, Egyptian Ambassador.

President Mahama said it is unfair for Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone to be ostracized while plagued by the deadly disease and gave the assurance that he would continue to use his position as the Chairman of ECOWAS to seek support for the sub-region.

On Ghana's relations with the EU, President Mahama said the Union had over the years supported Ghana in her development agenda and called for closer links in the area of agriculture, which is the backbone of the economy.

He mentioned the strengthening of the fisheries sector of agriculture and gave the assurance that he would work around the clock to ensure the fruition of the project in the coming years.

On Japan, President Mahama commended the government for her tremendous support to Ghana over the years and gave the assurance he would continue to work with the Asian country, particularly as Ghana is about to launch the Ghana infrastructural Development Fund next year.

He called on Japan to support Ghana to build a bridge over the lower Volta river to consolidate the work on the Eastern corridor road.

President Mahama said Ghana would also leverage her relations with Egypt in the areas of trade and commerce and called on the new Ambassador to forge ahead to restore the cordial relations that existed between them in the past.

He said Ghana had always supported Palestine in their movements and would leverage their relations in the coming years.

Mr Heider said ECOWAS is a very important region that his country had worked with and would continue to deal with towards the development of countries in the region.

He commended Ghana for her democratic credentials and promised to work closely with the West African country.