London, March 18, GNA - President John Agyekum Kufuor has advised Ghanaians abroad to rise above ethnic and political divisions and come together to push forward the national agenda of joining mainstream globalisation. "This is the way we must go to make Ghana the Black Star of Africa", he said, at a well-attended dinner dance organised jointly by the Ghana Mission and the Ghana Union in the United Kingdom (UK) at the Ibis Hotel in London on Saturday to celebrate the country's 50 years of nationhood.
The First Lady, Mrs Theresa Kufuor, Professor Daniel Adzei-Bekoe, Chairman of the Council of State and Madam Ama Busia, another member of the Council, Foreign Minister Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo, Mr Kwamena Bartels, Minister of Information and National Orientation and Mr Isaac Osei, Chief Executive of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) and former High Commissioner to the UK, were among those present. President Kufuor was in London for a state visit at the invitation of Queen Elizabeth II, something, seen as a recognition of the country's good democratic governance and economic performance. He told them that the Government would continue to be accountable and transparent and what was left was for the people to accept to do their bit by making sure that they lived up to their responsibilities to the nation.
He noted that citizens of the country abroad were a great asset, citing their remittances, which went up from 200 million dollars in 2001 to fur billion dollars, last year. President Kufuor said there should be a new Ghanaian who was confident and capable of competing with anybody from any part of the world. It was to achieve this that the nation had set its sights and vision high to develop its human resource by ensuring that the average citizen was literate and competent in Information, Communication Technology (ICT).
He spoke of the giant strides the country was making with her democracy and the performance of the economy and declared that Ghana was seeing a re-birth. This, he said, explained the tremendous international attention it was receiving. Nana Akufo-Addo said the future held a lot of hope for the country and called on all to put their shoulders to the wheel as it sets on the next 50 years milestone. The Chairman of the Union, Mr Kwame Adu, said they sincerely believed that there was strength in unity and were therefore determined to hold together. He conveyed the Union's congratulations to President Kufuor on his election to chair the African Union (AU).
