US has great respect for Africa – Embassy

The United States embassy in Accra, has said the US has great respect for the people of the African continent.

According to the embassy, the commitment of US to African countries will continue to remain stronger.

These comments come after a backlash the US government has suffered from most African countries over the “shithole” comment by US President Donald Trump.

Mr Trump described El Salvador, Haiti and certain African nations as “shithole” countries during a meeting with lawmakers at the White House on Thursday.

“Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?” Mr Trump asked, after being presented with a proposal to restore protections for immigrants from those countries as part of a bipartisan immigration deal. The Washington Post reported the remarks citing aides briefed on the meeting.

Trump demanded to know why the US would accept immigrants from these countries rather than places like Norway, whose prime minister he had met the day before.

Mr Trump has received international condemnation for his comment, one of those criticisms coming from Botswana, whose Ministry of International Affairs and Cooperation called on the US's ambassador to Botswana "to express its displeasure at the alleged utterances made by the President of the US."

For instance, Ghana’s president said: “The language of US President Donald Trump that the African continent, Haiti and El Salvador are ‘shithole countries’ is extremely unfortunate. Ghana is certainly not a ‘shithole country’. We will not accept such insults, even from a leader of a friendly country, no matter how powerful.”

But the US Embassy in a tweet on Saturday January 13 stated that : “We have great respect for the people of Africa. Our commitment to Ghana and all our African partners remains strong. It’s an honor for our staff to serve here alongside Ghanaians, and we deeply value our relationship with them.”

We have great respect for the people of Africa. Our commitment to Ghana and all our African partners remains strong. It’s an honor for our staff to serve here alongside Ghanaians, and we deeply value our relationship with them.

— US Embassy Ghana (@USEmbassyGhana) January 13, 2018