Prez Akufo -Addo and M.J.K Akbar displaying the dummy cheque
The government and people of India donated an amount of $1 million for the renovation of the Flagstaff House on the eve of the country’s 70th independence anniversary celebration yesterday.
The announcement was made by India’s Minister of State for External Affairs, M.J. Akbar when he paid a courtesy call on President Akufo-Addo at the Flagstaff House yesterday.
The construction of the building was financed by the Indian government.
The Minister lauded the policies and programmes being implemented by the government, describing President Akufo-Addo as “a father of democracy in Africa.”
Mr Akhbar indicated that “we celebrate also the fact that your programmes and policies, evidenced in your signature policies, about villages, agriculture, are indicative that you are as close to the people of your country as you always have.”
He noted that in human history, power sometimes distorts the relationship between the powerful and the people, saying “your commitment to the people, and your constant search for ways and means in which you can improve the lives of your people is the spine around which your government operates.”
The Indian Minister noted that “today is not only a celebration of the last six or seven decades, but is also a celebration of the next six decades, and the birth of a new partnership that will make Ghana such a valuable destination for India.”
He expressed hope that Ghana and India would build bridges in the immediate future that will have the strength to transform the two countries.
“Together, we defeated colonisation. Together, as partners, we must define the future of the 21st century by lifting our nations and taking them to the economic and equity forefront of the world. Our responsibility is to give the generations of the future an equally dramatic change so that we can also belong to, what is conventionally called, the best of the First World,” he added.
M.J. Akbar presented a donation from the Indian government to the tune of $1 million for the renovation of the Flagstaff House.
Cooperation
On his part, President Akufo-Addo said “the people who began the struggle for our nation’s freedom were heavily influenced by events in India. Indeed, it was exactly 11 days before the 15th of August that they met in Saltpond to begin the battle for Ghanaian freedom, and they did so because they were conscious of what was taking place in India,” he said.
He continued, “Many of them, in fact, had close friendships with many of the leading lights of the Indian Nationalist Movement, and thought it would not be right to announce the struggle for Ghanaian freedom after Indian independence. So they did everything possible to assemble in Saltpond, even if it was 11 days before India’s independence.”
President Akufo-Addo said the Ghanaian people appreciate the close relations between the two countries, the symbol of which is the Flagstaff House.
He also applauded the impact being made by India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, not just domestically but also on the international scene, and also the contributions of the Indian community to the development of Ghana.
President Akufo-Addo also thanked the government and people of India for the $1 million donated to rehabilitate the Flagstaff House.
The President was hopeful that in the coming years, Ghana and India would explore further “avenues of economic intercourse and development.
There is so much our two countries can gain from stepping up the quality of the value of exchanges between our two countries, which currently stands in the region of $3 billion.”
By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Presidential Correspondent