Accra, Aug. 22, GNA - President John Agyekum Kufuor on Thursday received the "Merit Award for Excellence", an honour he proudly shares with the legendary Nelson Mandela of South Africa from the African Association of Quantity Surveyors.

This is in recognition of his contribution towards the development of Africa and especially his country.

Mr Joseph Segun Ajanlekoko, President of the Association, led a delegation to the Castle, Osu, to decorate him with the medal. President Kufuor, they noted, stood tall among his peers in the continent and was praised for his leadership that had made Ghana a model of democracy and good governance, and reference point to other African nations.

The executive members of the association are in the Accra for their triennial conference to discuss ways of helping to promote efficient management of Africa's land asset.

President Kufuor used the occasion to counsel them to ensure best practices to enable countries in the continent to get value for money in the award of building contracts.

He said there were a lot of construction works taking place in Africa and asked the quantity surveyors to resist the temptation of seeking favours in their bid to secure consultancy services. This way they would be helping the continent to build with efficiency and at justifiable cost.

President Kufuor spoke of the determination of the government to speed up the passage of the Ghana Survey Council Bill now before cabinet.

The association, Mr Ajanlekoko said, would do everything to make quantity surveying practice in Africa conform to world standards. He appealed to President Kufuor to put in a word for the association to gain African Union (AU) observer status.