Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey (middles) with the two envoys
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, has hosted a luncheon in honour of two outgoing ambassadors.
The envoys are ambassador of Cote d’Ivoire, Bernard Ehui-Koutoua and the ambassador of the State of Kuwait, Mohammed Hussain Al-Failakawi.
Mr. Ehui-Koutoua assumed office as ambassador of Cote d’Ivoire to Ghana on May 26, 2011, while Mr. Al-Failakawi assumed office in January 2015 as ambassador of the State of Kuwait to Ghana.
Speaking at the luncheon on Tuesday, July 2, 2019, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, in Accra, Madam Ayorkor Botchwey said both outgoing ambassadors have “served their countries with distinction here in Ghana and have contributed tremendously to the deepening and widening of the relations between their respective countries and Ghana.”
She observed that Mr. Ehui-Koutoua, as Dean of the Diplomatic Corps, “exhibited leadership and tact in the way he went about his responsibilities and rightly conveyed the thoughts and views of the diplomatic community.”
She added that “by all standards, his tenure was beneficial to his country – Cote d’Ivoire, to Ghana, and to the diplomatic community, and he would be sorely missed.”
Mr. Al-Failakawi became the first ambassador of the State of Kuwait to Ghana, following the official inauguration of the Embassy of Kuwait in Accra.
Since assuming the position, the Foreign Minister revealed, Ambassador Al-Failakawi has worked very hard to justify his appointment.
She recounted that it was during his tenure that Ghana obtained a loan worth $24 million from the Kuwaiti Fund for Economic Development to build and develop 26 model secondary schools in the country.
According to her, the Ambassador was also instrumental in getting Ghana to access a $10 million loan facility from the same Kuwaiti Fund for the Dome-Kitase Road Project.
She added that Ghana’s bilateral relations with the State of Kuwait was given a further boost with the reciprocal opening of the Ghana Embassy in Kuwait City in August 2017.
Mr. Ehui-Koutoua, thanked the people of Ghana and President Akufo-Addo, saying “at the moment of my departure, I look forward to deeper relations.”
He urged deepening relations with ECOWAS, African Union, especially with the implementation of the agreement creating the Continental Free Trade Area.
The Ambassador of Columbia has taken over as the new Dean of the Diplomatic Corps in Ghana.
Mr. Al-Failakawi expressed gratitude to departments, institutions and ministries of Ghana for their support and cooperation.
BY Melvin Tarlue