Ambassador Thomas Kwesi Quartey
Thomas Kwesi Quartey, former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration and onetime Executive Secretary to immediate past President John Dramani Mahama, was yesterday elected Vice Chairman of the Africa Union (AU) Commission.
His new position did not come as a surprise to many, considering the intense lobbying mounted for him by government, led by President Akufo-Addo and Ghana’s delegation at the ongoing 28th Africa Union summit.
He could not but thank the government and people of Ghana for their support.
What came as a surprise to many was the defeat of Kenya’s Foreign Affairs and International Trade Secretary, Amina Mohamed, as Chairman of the AU Commission.
Amina had been largely tipped to succeed the outgoing Chairperson of the commission, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma from South Africa, but lost her bid.
In a vote that took seven rounds to conclude, she lost to her Chadian counterpart, Moussa Faki Mahamat, 56 years old.
Faki is not new to the workings of the AU, having previously served as the chairperson of the AU’s Economic, Social and Cultural Council.
He was a former Chadian Prime Minister.
Another Ghanaian, Professor Felix Dapare Dakora, also made Ghana proud at the AU summit yesterday when he received the prestigious Kwame Nkrumah Award for Science and Technology.
For his reward, Prof. Dakora of the Chemistry Department at the Tshwane University of Technology in Pretoria, South Africa, took home a certificate, plaque and a whopping $100,000 cheque to aid his work.
“I feel absolutely overwhelmed; it is one of the greatest honours in life, given the history of the award [named after Kwame Nkrumah], our first President. To be a recipient of the award named after our first president does me proud,” he told journalists after receiving the honours.
President Akufo-Addo and the Ghanaian delegation could not hide their excitement at the honour the two have brought the country whiles congratulating them.
From Charles Takyi-Boadu, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia