President Akufo-Addo left Accra this morning for Belgrade, the capital of Serbia.
A statement from the presidency said he was accompanied by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey; the daughter of Ghana’s first President, former Member of Parliament for Jomoro, Samia Nkrumah and officials of the Presidency and Foreign Ministry to attend the 60th anniversary ceremony of the founding of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), which is being held in Belgrade.
The Non-Aligned Movement is a forum of one hundred and twenty (120) developing states that are not formally aligned with any major power bloc.
After the United Nations, it is the largest grouping of states worldwide.
Ghana’s first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, was one of the five historic founding fathers of the Movement, together with Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru of India, President Ahmed Sukarno of Indonesia, President Gamel Abdel Nasser of Egypt, and President Josip Broz Tito of the then Yugoslavia, who launched the Movement in Belgrade.
The government of Serbia is organising a commemorative event in Belgrade on 11th and 12th October to mark the 60th anniversary of the first NAM Conference in Belgrade.
Whilst attending the Conference, President Akufo-Addo is expected to deliver a statement on the floor reaffirming Ghana’s commitment to the principles of the Movement. The President will hold bilateral talks with his Serbian counterpart, Aleksandar Vučić, aimed at strengthening the ties of co-operation between the two countries. He is also expected to meet the Prime Minister of Algeria and the Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia, on the sidelines of the Conference, to discuss matters of mutual interest.
The President will return to Ghana on Tuesday, 12th October, 2021.
Vice President Bawumia would act in his absence by Article 60(8) of the 1992 Constitution.
By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Presidential Correspondent