Ghana to establish permanent Mission at the Vatican - Mahama

President John Dramani Mahama on Thursday announced that Ghana will soon establish a permanent Mission at the Vatican in Rome to bring the activities of the Catholic Church closer to all Ghanaians.

He said: “Government has already sent in a request to the Vatican concerning the establishment and we are waiting for their response before we go ahead.”

President Mahama announced this when members of the Catholic Bishops Conference called on him at the Flagstaff House, Kanda.

The delegation, led by Leon Kalenga, Out-going Apostolic Nuncio to Ghana and 11 Bishops, were at the Presidency to congratulate the President on his victory and coronation as the President of the republic and also to discuss issues that would propel the development of the country in the coming years.

President Mahama said the Catholic Church had over the years been instrumental in the socio-economic development of the country and called on them to support government to achieve the development agenda as the years roll by.

On the water and electricity crisis in the country, President Mahama gave the assurance that government was tackling the water problem through the expansion of the Kpong water plant that would provide additional 80 million gallons of water in the next few years.

He said work on the Aboadze project would be completed by next month to add almost 300 megawatts of power to assuage the current deficit the country was experiencing and called on Ghanaians to be more patient as the government pursued those goals.

The President said a private company would soon embark on the construction of a plant that would purify water from the sea; and it’s expected to supply about 10 million gallons of water to the people of Accra and its surrounding areas.

Most Reverend Joseph Osei-Bonsu, President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference appealed to government to streamline issues on the partnership between government and the church in the area of education to enhance effective and quality education in the country.

He called on government to find immediate solutions to the water and power crisis coupled with the strike action of teachers to ensure peace and unity that would catapult the development agenda of the country.

Earlier on, President Mahama received different Muslim groups with a call on them to step up their intercessory prayers that would unite and keep the country in peace.

The Muslims, who were at the Presidency to discuss the annual Prayer and Thanksgiving Service, also congratulated President Mahama for the development agenda he had embarked on.

President commended the Muslims and Christians for their peaceful co-existence and appealed to them to continue with that cooperation to help accelerate the development of the country.