Accra, Sept. 20, GNA - Vice-President John Atta Mills returned home on Monday after a nine-day visit to the United Kingdom where he addressed a conference on the challenges for governance in Africa.

The Vice-President, who was accompanied by deputy Foreign Minister Joseph Laryea, also held separate meetings with British Ministers of State and Heads of business concerns whom he wooed for support to African economies.

Briefing newsmen at the airport on the conference, Mr Laryea said the Vice President condemned the practice of Western countries and institutions to impose on Africa a checklist of what they consider to constitute the ingredient of good governance.

He said "what Africa rather needs is the understanding and support of western countries to overcome difficulties and poverty." The conference was organised by Wilton Park, an academically autonomous agency of the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office for African policy makers, including Ministers of State, international organisations and non-governmental organisations.

It was aimed at developing a policy agenda for achieving effective implementation of good governance in Africa, drawing on the various experiences of some countries on the continent. According to Mr Laryea, Prof Mills called on the international community to be more sensitive to the factors that undermine the efforts of African countries to build sustainable economies and good governance.

The Vice-President stressed that if the promotion of democracy in Africa is to be successful and sustained, it was imperative that African economies should be boosted to avoid a reversal of democratic gains. Mr Laryea said Vice-President Mills held separate meetings with Mr Clare Short, British Secretary of State for International Development and Mr Peter Hain, Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.

Their discussions centred on trade and investment, and matters of mutual interest, including further relations between Ghana and the United Kingdom. He said Prof. Mills focused on Ghana's concerns over the effects of the falling price of cocoa and gold, and the sharp increase in petroleum prices, on her economy.

The two Ministers, Mr Laryea said, expressed sympathy for Ghana's predicament and commended the government for its political and economic achievement, in spite of the difficulties. They also praised Ghana as a role model for democracy in sub-Saharan Africa, and her significant contribution to the maintenance of peace and stability in the West Africa sub-region, especially in Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Vice-President Mills granted interviews to the British Broad