South-South News awards President Mills

From Benjamin Mensah, GNA Correspondent in New York, USA

New York, Nov 24, GNA - The South- South News, a digital media platform in the United States of America, on Wednesday presented two awards and an information system package to President John Evans Atta Mills.

It was in recognition of Ghana's economic growth and progress, and also for improvement in the nation's education front.

The awards are the South-South Award Plaque in recognition of Ghana's economic growth, and painting on a 100-metre long scroll for advances in Ghana's education reforms, cultural diversity and harmony.

Mr Francis Lorenzo, President of the South-South News, presented the awards to President Mills at a ceremony in New York, USA, attended by permanent representatives of some developing nations in the United Nations.

"Your Excellency President John Evans Atta Mills, via your sturdy leadership and strong commitment of remaining anchored to your pledge to build a strong and resilient economy, Ghana's economic growth path has caught the attention of the world," a citation accompanying the award= s read.

It continued, 93Your fiscal prudence; ability to keep a single digit inflation figure for close to a year; maintaining stable currency and your impressive growth pattern has made Ghana's economy of the fastest growing economy worldwide.

"Capital has a choice and your commitment to making Ghana an unattractive destination for illicit drug trade is certainly reflecting in a colossal amount appetite that investors have investing in Ghana."

The citation acknowledged that President Mills has an accommodating governance style which reflects in his pledge to manage the affairs of Ghana in an open, honest and transparent way, which stands him out as a reformer really committed to building a Better Ghana.

The platform lauded President Mills for setting up the Media Fund to build the capacity of journalists and that it was a clear manifestation of the President's belief in the power of the media as a critical partner in development.

President Mills thanked the South-South News for the awards and said: 93I accept these prizes with great pride and humility". He said his administration had built on the foundation of by earlier o= nes.

The President expressed the hope that other governments would build on the achievement, reminding

leaders to recognize that they were voted to power to raise the standard of living of the people.

President Mills called on leaders to maintain peace at all cost, see the factors that threatened peace and

not to overstay legitimate periods of stewardship.

President Mills reminded leaders that a lot of people were interested in their performance, and they dare

not fail them.

The permanent representatives at meeting took turns to congratulate President Mills on the awards.

Mr John Ashe, the permanent representative of Antigua and Barbuda, praised President Mills for the

feat, and recalled the role of Ghana's first President, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, in a number of areas

in the developing world.

He extended best wishes to President Mills, and said other nations within the South-South cooperation

were ready to learn from the Ghanaian experience.

Similar sentiments were expressed by officials of Bangladesh, Honduras Guinea Bissau among others.