German President Expected Today

Accra, Jan. 11, GHP - President of Germany, Horst Kohler, and his wife, Eva Luise Kohler, left Berlin today for Ghana on a four-day visit during which he is scheduled to meet President John Kuffour, and other African leaders.

Kohler is scheduled to hold bilateral talks with Kufuor at the Castle, Osu, and also pay a courtesy call on the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu ll, at the Manhyia Palace.

He is also expected to visit the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), where he will discuss the issue of brain drain with students of the university.

On Friday, the German president is due to attend the second conference of an initiative that he founded, the Partnership with Africa, which is being held in the Ghanaian capital, Accra from the January 12 to January 14 at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, Teshie Accra, on the theme: "Two Generations-One Future."

The conference is a sequel to the first Africa Conference the German President convened in Bonn in November 2005, where he launched the Africa Partnership Initiative.

Other participants include presidents Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf (Liberia), Olusegun Obasanjo (Nigeria), Festus G Mogae (Botswana) and Alpha Oumar Konare (African Union).

Together with around 30 leaders from politics, business, research and culture, they will discuss ways to improve cooperation between Africa and industrial nations.

Koehler, who is paying his third trip to Africa since assuming office in 2004, also plans to use his visit to encourage reform movements on the continent.

In June 2002 President Kufuor paid a four-day official visit to Germany (see picture). The then German Chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder, also made a reciprocal visit to Ghana.

Koehler is the first German head of state to visit Ghana since it achieved independence from Britain 50 years ago.