General News of Tuesday, 14 August 2012

Source: GNA

Mahama tells Heads of Missions to advance Ghana's interest

President John Dramani Mahama on Tuesday appealed to Ghana’s Heads of Missions to use their positions to advance and achieve the country’s foreign policy objectives.

He said Ghana’s foreign policy which had been carved over the years, remained the same, and it was the responsibility of High Commissioners and Ambassadors to translate those policies into workable documents for Ghana and the countries in which they were serving.

President Mahama made this appeal when 29 of Ghana’s High Commissioners and Ambassadors called on him at the Castle, Osu.

The Heads of Missions, who had been in the country since last week to attend the funeral of late President John Evans Atta Mills, were at the Castle to congratulate President Mahama on his assumption of the highest position as Head of State and to pledge their support to work closely with him.

President Mahama said government would engage the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to draw up a comprehensive programme to take inventory of all the property of Ghana outside, assess their challenges and develop a holistic approach towards resolving those challenges.

He said government was committed to maintaining all her bilateral agreements and urged the heads to respect all protocols that would enhance mutual benefit and raise the image of Ghana in the eyes of her peers around the world.

President Mahama also appealed to the envoys to continue to interact with Ghanaian nationals in their respective duty posts to achieve their goals in those countries. They should also hold constant meetings with Ghanaian nationals abroad to know their challenges and strengths.

The President said diplomatic positions were becoming dynamic because of the daily changes that were inherent in such positions and charged them to be innovative in order to become abreast with current trends in international diplomacy.

Professor Kwaku Danso-Boafo, Ghana’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom on behalf of his colleagues pledged their support to work with President Mahama to deliver government’s foreign policy objectives.

He also expressed the confidence of the group that President Mahama would live up to expectation, mainly because of his background and experience as an astute politician.