Wa and Ouahigouya formalise sister-city relationship

Wa, Sept. 8, GNA - The sister-city relationship between Wa in the Upper West Region and Ouahigouya in the Yatenga Province of Burkina Faso was formalised on Tuesday with the signing of a Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) between the two cities.

Mr Godfred Bayon Tangu, Municipal Chief Executive, signed for Wa while Mr Issa Joseph Diallo, the Mayor of Ouahigouya signed for his city.

The ceremony was witnessed by Mr Sahanun Mogtari, Upper West Regional Minister, chiefs and people from the municipality and a 54-member delegation from Burkina Faso, which also included the Mayor of Fada "N" Goma and a dance troupe.

The Burkinabe dancers treated the audience to a rich display of traditional dances to the admiration of the large crowd.

Objectives outlined in the MOU included the promotion of co-operation in economic, cultural, technical, educational, youth and sports development and environmental improvement.

Mr Tangu said technical committees were to be formed to oversee the implementation of programmes and activities aimed at achieving these objectives.

He noted that the two countries had similar developmental problems and could collaborate efforts to achieve mutual benefits.

Mr Tangu called for closer collaboration between Ghana and Burkina Faso, especially along their common borders to enable them to sustain the stability that existed in both countries.

A delegation from the Wa Municipal Assembly would leave for Ouahigouya on September 27, to join city authorities there to perform a similar function, the MCE announced.

Mr Mogtari lauded the sister-city concept and cited Tamale, Cape Coast, Kumasi and Tema as some other Ghanaian cities that had benefited from sister-city programmes.

Following a similar programme between the Wa Municipality and the IEPER City Council in Belgium, medical equipment worth millions of cedis had arrived at the Tema Harbour from Belgium awaiting clearance before delivery to health institutions in the municipality, the Regional Minister announced.

Mr Mogtari said during his recent visit to Belgium and Germany, he explored other opportunities that could be the basis for some cities in those countries to link up with other cities in the region.

Mr Diallo thanked the Government of Ghana and the people of Wa for giving their blessing and approval to the relationship, "which we all expect to bring cultural, social and economic benefits to our people."

He gave an assurance of the preparedness of the Burkinabe authorities to work with their Ghanaian counterparts on both sides of their common border to promote the development of their people.