Accra,(Greater Accra Region) 10 Oct. President Jerry John Rawlings today presented letters of credence to 12 new ambassadors-designate, empowering them to represent Ghana abroad. The number included Mrs Aanaa Naamua Enin, a member of the erstwhile PNDC who goes to Italy, Mr Samuel Akyianu, Ambassador- designate to the Czech Republic and Brigadier Francis Agyemfra, Ambassador-designate to Liberia. The rest are Mr James Aggrey-Orleans, High Commissioner- designate to the United Kingdom, Commander Baffour Assasie-Gyimah, Ambassador-designate to Burkina Faso, Mr Joseph Yieleh Chireh, Ambassador-designate to Algeria and Alhaji Basit Abdulai Fuseini, Ambassador-designate to Libya. The others are Mr Oliver Lawluvi, High Commissioner-designate to Canada, Mr Joao Goncalves Baeta, Ambassador-designate to Yugoslavia, Mr Simon Sonia Puli, Ambassador-designate to Angola, Mr Patrick Hayford, High Commissioner-designate to South Africa and Prof Kwaku Danso-Boafo, Ambassador-designate to Cuba. The new envoys swore the oath of allegiance, the oath of secrecy and the official oath on either the cross, the bible or the Koran as determined by their faiths after which the President congratulated them and handed them their letters. President Rawlings told the new envoys that the task ahead of them would not rpt not be easy taking into account the developmental needs of the country. He spoke about the world economic climate and said developing countries are finding the going tough because they are always at the periphery and cannot do any strategic planning. The President appealed to the new Ambassadors-designate to give of their best because ”they have the same responsibility as any citizen of this country”. Prof John Atta Mills, the Vice-President, said they should be ”economic ambassadors”, attracting investors into the country. ”Keep in mind the development needs of the country. Our people want an improvement in their living conditions”, Prof Mills said. Alhaji Mumuni Bawumia, Chairman of the Council of State, Mr Nathan Quao, Adviser to the President, Mr Kwamena Ahwoi, Minister responsible for Foreign Affairs, took turns to give pieces of advice to the Ambassadors. They all stressed the need to lay emphasis on economic diplomacy, attracting investment into the country and finding markets for Ghana’s products. Mr Ahwoi said by the end of their tour of duty, they should be able to bring one investor each to Ghana and also find new markets for some of the country’s products.
