Mahama has disrespected visiting Lebanese Leader - Sekou

Dr Sekou Nkrumah has questioned why Foreign Affairs Minister Hannah Tetteh rather than President John Mahama met the visiting Lebanese President General Michel Sleiman at the Kotoka International Airport in Accra.

Speaking on Radio XYZ’s Saturday current affairs Programme ‘The Analyst’, Dr Sekou Nkrumah said the president’s absence at the airport to welcome his Lebanese counterpart smacks of disrespect for the visiting president.

“You have to give him that respect…the foreign minister is not equal to the president…if the president of a country is coming in, he should be met by the president…the appropriate person is the president, unless the president is out of town," he insisted.

Dr Sekou Nkrumah wondered: “When a president of a country visits, is it not the president who receives him?”

However, a co-panelist, David Annan who represented the governing NDC on the same programme defended the president’s absence at the airport.

He said: “When President Mahama goes to the States, Obama doesn’t receive him”, adding that the fact that the Foreign Affairs Minister met the Lebanese leader instead of the president at the airport does not mean he doesn’t respect him. “That is protocol”, he said, noting that the president does not always meet visiting Heads of State.

General Sleiman who arrived in Accra at around 11am on Saturday is in the West African country for a two-day state visit with an 86-member delegation including his wife.

He will hold bilateral talks with his Ghanaian counterpart.

The two leaders are also expected to sign a Memorandum of Understanding and also address a joint press conference.

As part of the Lebanese leader’s visit, a business Forum will be held at the Accra International Conference Centre.