Navrongo and Koupela in Burkina Faso bind friendship

Koupela, (Burkina Faso), Oct. 20, GNA - The Kassena Nankana District in the Upper East Region and Koupela Township in Burkina Faso have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the establishment of a Sister-City relationship.

The MoU was signed in Koupela to confirm an earlier one signed in Navrongo last year. It is meant to foster a stronger relationship between the two areas and accelerate the socio-cultural and economic development of the people through social and cultural events, sports and economic activities. Mr Akwesi Yankey, Acting Head of Mission of the Ghana Embassy in Burkina Faso, in a statement said the MoU would promote Ghana's foreign policy and accelerate the sub-regional integration process at the community level.

He said this would use the ECOWAS and NEPAD agenda as a principal vehicle.

Mr Yankey said the MoU suggested that due to language barrier in establishing individual contacts among the people, the two areas should encourage the learning of both English and French while maintaining their respective local dialects.

He urged the two cities to assume the worldwide standard of responsibilities expected of sister-cities and fully agree to the Charter Principle.

This means that the two cities would contribute morally and maturely in the world's sister-city federation organization.

He said Ghana would promote the overall welfare and interest of the people of the two countries and gave the assurance that the MoU, which encompassed cooperation in the field of trade, transport, agriculture and art and craft, would promote peace and improve the lives of the people. Mr Emmanuel Andema, District Chief Executive of Kassena Nankana East, called on Ghanaians living in Koupela to be law abiding and conform to the country's rules and regulations.

He said both cities were taking measures to promote agricultural activities and that technical committees had been setup to give recommendations to the district assemblies for further action. Mr Simplice Dambre, Mayor of Koupela, said the MoU would go a long way to bring uniform development to the people of Koupela and Navrongo. He asked the Ghanaian community in Koupela to live in harmony with the people to enable the two cities to achieve the objectives of their relationship.