Dr Ayine and Rolf Olson in a photograph at the event
The United States Embassy in Ghana has hosted a grand reception in Accra to mark 250 years of American independence and shared history with Ghana.
Speaking at the celebration held at the Palms, had dignitaries from different sectors of the country attending with a dazziling fireworks display to climax the event.
Chargé d’Affaires at the U.S. Embassy, Rolf Olson, recalled the bold declaration made 250 years ago by colonists on North America’s East Coast.
“Two hundred and fifty years ago, a small group of determined people from a series of colonies concentrated on the East Coast of North America made one of the boldest gestures in all of human history. They declared their right to self-governance.
They asserted that all people are endowed with ‘certain unalienable rights’ — the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. They declared the independence of the United States of America. That declaration began the American story,” he said.
Mr. Olson noted that the US-Ghana story has been running in parallel since Ghana’s independence in 1957. “When Ghana raised its flag as an independent nation in 1957, the United States was there. Vice President Richard Nixon led the presidential delegation to Ghana’s Independence Day celebrations, and it was here, in Accra, that he met for the first time a 28-year-old civil rights activist named the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.”
On the Peace Corps, he said Ghana was the first country to welcome volunteers when President John F. Kennedy established the programme in 1961. “This year marks 65 years of the Peace Corps in Ghana — in fact 65 years of the Peace Corps anywhere — where more than 5,000 volunteers have lived and served in Ghanaian communities.”
Mr. Olson, said the US is, “strategically seeding investment” in Ghana’s digital sector. This includes support for the deployment of cutting-edge wireless technology at hundreds of base stations across the country. The project is aimed at expanding rural connectivity and bridging the digital divide across West Africa, he noted.
Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Dr. Dominic Ayine reaffirmed the country, commitment to deepening friendship with the U.S. He highlighted shared values of liberty, democracy, and justice.
Dr. Ayine said since Ghana’s independence, the two nations had enjoyed “cordial relations and strong friendship anchored on cooperation in areas such as health, education, law enforcement, security, human rights and defence.”
On the economic front, Dr. Ayine said the country enjoyed duty-free access to the US market under the African Growth and Opportunities Act for more than 1,800 product lines. Bilateral trade in goods and services he said, was approximately $4 billion last year.
He applauded the US for cooperating on Ghana’s bilateral debt restructuring arrangements and said the government had “stabilised the economy, restored fiscal stability, and brought back investor confidence.”
BY Prince Fiifi Yorke