It was a bright beautiful and sunny Monday morning. Rather very warm and humid, like Bolga, the capital of Upper West Region of Ghana, but this was Washington D.C. and the date September 15th 2008.
On the Seventeenth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue the corner of the Smithsonian Museum was agog with action. Officials of United State Secret Service, State Department, Ghana Embassy, and State Officials - from Ghana the Local Press and their Ghanaian counterparts – the resplendent and colorful Kente sporting happy Ghanaians - came together to paint a mosaic of celebration.
The colors Red, Gold and Green with the Black Star of Ghana and the Red, Blue and White Stars and Stripes of the U.S. were ubiquitously splashed on flag post and on top of official buildings in the areas around the White House, Blair House and the State Department. All this in celebration of Ghana’s President J.A. Kufuor and his wife the 1st Lady Mrs. Theresa Kufuor.
With military precision the Press and all invited Guests to the welcoming ceremony were screened. The “No nonsense” yet polite decorum of the entire process was just admirable.
On the South Lawn and later in the Rose Garden, comments from both Ghanaians and U.S. citizens were identical. They will never forget that day, the occasion has been indelibly marked in the history of their lives as the day White House received them into its awesome ambience. When the 1st couples stepped onto the Red Carpet, and the 21 gun salute blasted beyond the Dome of Washington D. C. area the crowd broke into ecstatic drowning cheers and shouts of joy. Many were those who later stood on the grounds and captured their presence on the lenses of cameras and on cellular phones to re-live the day Washington celebrated Ghana.
ISD (KATHERINE CARBOO) EMBASSY OF GHANA, WASHINGTON D.C.
