Nana Akuffo Addo, the Ghanaian foreign minister in his diplomatic visit to Korea took the opportunity to meet with the Ghanaian community in Seoul. The meeting which was organized at the Ghana High Commission lasted for almost two hours.
The Chairman of the Ghanaian community, Mr. Clint Jojo Dines in his speech praised the NPP Government for its commitment to involve Ghanaians abroad in the country?s decision making process. He mentioned the representative of the people Amendment Act which has given Ghanaians abroad the mandate to vote in election and referenda as one practical example. However, he asked the government to do more to reduce poverty and the hardships facing Ghanaians. Mr. Dines said ? Hon minister, we commend the government?s successful achievement in the area of governance, its commitment to democracy and its quest for infrastructural development but we request that much will be done to deal with poverty and economic hardships so that the positive change you preach can be felt by the ordinary people?. He also talked about the healthy relationship between the community and the embassy and thanked them for their support.
In addition, Mr. Dines identified some of the problems facing Ghanaians in Korea such as regularization of visa and working permit and asked that the foreign minister will mention that in his meeting with his Korean counterpart for consideration.
Nana Akuffo Addo on his part briefed the audience and explained some of the NPP government?s policies including education, Health care, the economy and investment. He said Government has introduce free universal basic education because education is the foundation for development, he also made mention of the introduction of the health insurance. In addition, he made mention of the inflation which has fallen to a single digit as an achievement to the Government for its good economic policies.
There was question time, where the audience bombarded the minister with many questions ranging from the economy, corruption, and import duties to education. Some of the questions came from Rev. Prince Charles Oteng Boateng; he asked the minister, what the government is doing to improve the quality of education and making more facilities available for research work in the nation?s universities?
The minister answered by saying ? NPP Government has taken steps to improve and expand facilities at four major universities in the country, he said we are aware of all these problems but we need to improve on the economy so that we will have enough financial capabilities to take care of these issues. Most people, who asked questions first praised the Government for its achievements over the last six years in office, however asked that more needed to be done to improve the lots of the people.
BY: Acting Secretary MUTARI KADIRI.
