President Alassane Ouattara of Cote D’Ivoire and President Akufo-Addo responding to cheers from the crowd
Ivorian President Alasane Ouattara arrived yesterday with a high-powered delegation to begin a two-day state visit to Ghana.
They were met on arrival at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) by President Akufo-Addo and Chief of Staff, Frema Osei-Opare, who led a team of high-powered Ghanaian officials, made up of heads of the various security institutions and ministers.
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, President Ouattara inspected a guard of honour.
From there, the two West African leaders drove through some principal streets of Accra.
Later in the day, the Ivorian president paid a courtesy call on President Akufo-Addo at the seat of government – the Flagstaff House – where they held talks behind closed door.
Commendation
Not too long thereafter, the Ghanaian officials and their Ivorian counterparts held bilateral meeting where President Akufo-Addo commended his colleague, Alassane Ouattara, for his show of statesmanship in the aftermath of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) ruling on the delimitation of the maritime boundary between the two countries.
“We realised there was a delicate moment when it came to this dispute over our maritime border.”
That notwithstanding, he said, “Your statesmanship, friendship and regard for the interests of our two countries made it possible for us to overcome that delicate moment, and use it as a basis for forging even stronger relations between us.”
Whilst expressing his gratitude and that of Ghanaians to President Ouattara for the visit to Ghana, President Akufo-Addo noted, “There are a lot of things we need to do to bring our two nations into greater intimacy than we have done in the past.”
Acknowledging the political will on the part of President Ouattara to deepen and strengthen the bond of friendship with Ghana, President Akufo-Addo noted, “It is for us, on our side in Ghana, to complement it.”
That, he said, was because “there is a bright future if we are able to get our various darts in the correct row. The Ghanaian people continue to be very supportive of all the initiatives there are to improve our ties with your country.”
He reiterated his government’s commitment to translate the ‘technical decisions’ agreed on paper “into concrete decisions that affect the lives of the people and that is what is most important. At this juncture in our history, we have a historic opportunity to bring our two countries together.”
Treat
After the meeting, President Akufo-Addo treated his guest and his delegation to lunch at the Banquet Hall of the Flagstaff House.
Later in the evening, the Ghanaian leader held a dinner in honour of President Alassane Ouattara and members of his delegation at the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC).
The Ivorian president and his delegation are expected to depart Ghana for Cote d’Ivoire this afternoon.
But that would be preceded with a press conference to be addressed by the two leaders.
They would also sign a bilateral agreement and inaugurate a joint commission for the implementation of the recent ITLOS judgement.
Agreement
Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire are set to sign a Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) that would see the two countries collaborate more than before.
This was made public by Minister for Foreign Affairs, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, during bilateral talks between the Ghanaian officials and the Ivorian delegation in Accra yesterday.
By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Presidential Correspondent