Fritz Kwabena Poku, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Ghana to the United States yesterday, September 15, 2004, presented his letters of credence to President George Walker Bush at the Oval Office, White House. By this, Ambassador Poku has become ?fully functional as an accredited ambassador? to the United States.

Accompanied by his wife Nana Efua Salvo-Poku and their four children, Ambassador Poku in presenting his letters to President Bush said, ?Our infant democracy stands in need of well-resourced democratic institutions, a thriving economy and prosperous people. It is with a great sense of satisfaction that I note, in this regard, that the United States has been extraordinarily supportive especially over the past four years of our efforts to entrench democratic values and principles in Ghana?s body politic.?

According to a press release by the Public Affairs Department at the Ghana Embassy in Washington DC, Ambassador Poku also expressed appreciation to President Bush and his government as ?an invaluable ally to Ghana in our engagements with the Bretton Woods Institution;? citing the grant of deeper debt relief to developing countries including Ghana and the broadening use of International Development Assistance grants as part of the drive towards the attainment of the United Nation?s Millennium Goals.

Ambassador Poku assured President Bush that Ghana will take up the challenge to come up with an outstanding ?compact? to enable her access the Millennium Challenge Account?s assistance for the fiscal year, since it is the ?democracy dividend? that President John Agyekum Kufuor has been advocating over the last three years.

While commending President Bush for the numerous agreements that have ensued between Ghana and the U.S., Ambassador Poku thought it refreshing that the U.S. Congress has finally agreed to ratify the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) III Bill.