Accra, Feb. 20, GNA – Ghana on Wednesday rolled out the red carpet for President George W. Bush when she gave the US leader a formal welcome at the Castle, Osu.
The US President, who arrived in Accra on Tuesday night with his wife Laura on the penultimate leg of his five-nation visit that has taken him to Benin, Tanzania and Rwanda, was welcomed to the Castle at 0935 hours by his host President John Agyekum Kufuor.
The two leaders then mounted the dais where they took the national salute as a 21-gun-salute fired from a naval ship boomed in the background while the national anthems were played. A contingent of 96 officers and men of the Ghana Air Force formed an honour guard at the Castle.
After the national salute, President Kufuor introduced ministers who were present at the ceremony to the US President. As the Presidents walked up the aisle into the Credentials Hall for bilateral talks, traditional horn blowers and drummers used drum language to welcome the US President to Ghana. President Bush will address a press conference at the Castle Gardens before continuing with his itinerary for the day which includes lunch with US Peace Corps, meeting with beneficiaries of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act and Tee Ball with students of the Ghana International School.
He will also be guest at a banquet to be hosted by President Kufuor in the evening.
President Bush ends his African visit, the second during his two-term presidency, in Liberia on Thursday. He would review the progress of US funded efforts to advance economic development and fight HIV-AIDS, malaria and other treatable diseases with President Kufuor.
Ghana and the US, the world’s most advanced economy, are enjoying good bilateral relations under President Kufuor and President Bush. America’s development assistance to the country in 2007 totalled more than 55.1 million dollars with programmes in small farmer competitiveness; health including HIV-AIDS, maternal and child health; education; democracy and good governance. Ghana’s 547-million-dollar compact with the Millennium Challenge Corporation is the most recent achievement in the US-Ghanaian development partnership.
Source: GhanaWeb
