Ghana’s newly appointed High Commissioner to Malaysia, Akua Sekyiwaa Ahenkorah, has promised to live to the task set for her by President Akufo-Addo.

The president had charged her to intensify efforts to bring investments into the country during her swearing-in at the Flagstaff House yesterday.

He described her appointment as ‘very deserving’ because he had worked with Madam Sekyiwaa Ahenkorah when he was Ghana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs in President Kufuor’s New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration.

“I’m in a position to testify to your competence, your ability and loyalty to the Ghanaian nation and its government and capacity for hard work; as far as I am concerned, you are very fit and deserving of this appointment,” President Akufo-Addo spoke highly of the envoy.

As a career diplomat, he therefore expressed the hope that the new high commissioner would discharge her duty with finesse.

As a country with the same historical antecedent as Ghana – having attained independence in the same year (1957) and the claim that Malaysia got its first palm nut from Ghana – President Akufo-Addo expressed worry that Ghana is still lagging behind in its development.

He however, stressed the belief that there is still a great deal of lesson Ghana can learn from its relations with Malaysia and therefore, charged Madam Sekyiwaa Ahenkorah to pursue that vision.

Whilst thanking the president and the government and people of Ghana for the honour done her, Madam Akua Sekyiwaa Ahenkorah, articulated, “As the first female to be appointed as High Commissioner to Malaysia, it is my determination to justify the decision by your government to enhance the involvement of women in the development of this country. I promise to deliver on my mandate in achieving the overall government objective of improving the wellbeing of the people of Ghana.

“I am grateful for the confidence reposed in me; and I assure you of my loyalty to the government and people of Ghana in the discharge of my duties.”

She pledged to strengthen the already cordial relations not only between Ghana and Malaysia, but with missions and countries of concurrent accreditations such as Thailand, Indonesia and Philippines and explore areas of effective cooperation.

Chief among her objectives, she said, is to drive private sector investment to Ghana to achieve the NPP government’s vision of ‘One District, One Factory,’ ‘One Village, One Dam,’ ‘Planting for food and Jobs’ and the overall objective of building a Ghana beyond aid.