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General News of Wednesday, 19 July 2006

Source: GNA/GHP

Kufuor to visit Liberia, DC, Cuba, NY, Bucharest, Beijing etc

... Engagements for rest of 2006 is announced
... Invited to GhanaFest in Chicago

Accra, July 19, GNA/GHP - President John Agyekum Kufuor still has a number of important external engagements which would keep him in and out of home for few days' intervals, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Cooperation and NEPAD, said on Wednesday.

He said President Kufuor would be joining the President and people of Liberia next week as the Special Guest of Honour for their first anniversary celebration of that country's return to constitutional rule.

Nana Akufo-Addo, who outlined the itinerary of the President for the first time at a press briefing in Accra, stated that the Volta River Authority (VRA) with funding from the European Union had been working on an electrification project to help Liberia regain its electricity.

He said President Kufuor would on July 26 join President Ellen Sirleaf-Johnson, President of Liberia to switch on the electricity for some parts of the country.

He said upon his return home at the end of the month, President Kufuor would leave for Washington D.C, to witness the signing of the Millennium Challenge Account, that would provide funding to help to revamp the infrastructure in rural areas as well as enhance agriculture in Ghana.

While in the US, the Ghanaian delegation is expected to visit Chicago to invite Mayor Daley to Ghana next year. Ghanaians in Chicago are hoping the president can attend this year’s GhanaFest – The biggest Ghanaian cultural festival outside Ghana - on the 29 July.

“It will be a great honor if the president of the republic can grace the occasion” said president of the Ghana National Council of Metropolitan Chicago, Reuben Hiadze

Kufuor is expected to attend the 14th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), which is scheduled for September 15 and September 16 in Havana, Cuba.

The Minister stated that being one of the founding members of the NAM made Ghana's representation at the summit very crucial.

President Kufuor would then lead Ghana's delegation to the 61st Security Council and General Assembly meeting of the United Nations, which would open on September 19 2006 in New York.

He said on his return, President Kufuor would again attend a summit of Francophone countries from September 28 to September 29 in Bucharest, Romania and for the first time as a full member.

Nana Akufo-Addo underscored the importance of Ghana's participation in the summit, as it would help to deepen bilateral relations with neighbouring French speaking countries.

President Kufuor would attend the China/Africa Forum in Beijing, China on November 4 and November 5 2006 and the Abuja Summit and a meeting of Latin American countries to be held from November 30 to December 1 2006.

He stated that no date had yet been fixed for the ECOWAS Summit, which would have to come on before the end of 2006.