RAWLINGS OFF TO AFRICAN PRESIDENTIAL ROUNDTABLE IN BERLIN

Former President Jerry John Rawlings left Accra last night for Berlin Germany where he will be taking part in the 'African Presidential Roundtable 2009.

The African Presidential Roundtable is a signature programme of the African Presidential Archives and Research Center (APARC) at Boston University.

This year's Roundtable in Berlin is on the theme, 'Leadership Challenges of Land Reform in Africa' and will take place on April 28 and 29.

Participants at the 2009 event include other former African Heads of State and students from American-African Universities.

On Monday President Rawlings and his colleagues held a private luncheon with German President Horst Kohler.

He will participate in two sessions on Land Reform titled 'The Historical and Political Challenges of Land Reform and Property Rights and The Strategies and Models for Land Reform and Property Rights on Tuesday.

On Wednesday former President Rawlings will take part in the third and final session, which is Building a Consensus around Land Reform and Property Rights.

APARC is a multidisciplinary, university-based center, and was established to complement Boston University’s African Studies programme, the second oldest in the nation.

President Rawlings took part in the first APARC Roundtable at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg in 2005 under the theme “Africa’s image in the American media”.

Former President Rawlings was joined by Nicéphore D. Soglo of Benin; Pierre Buyoya of Burundi; António Mascarenhas Monteiro of Cape Verde; Aristides Maria Pereira of Cape Verde; Ketumile Masire of Botswana; Daniel Arap Moi of Kenya; Karl Auguste Offmann of Mauritius; Joaquim Alberto Chissano of Mozambique; Ali Hassan Mwinyi of Tanzania; and Dr. Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia.

Signed: Kofi Adams