President Akufo-Addo presenting a gift to Ambassador Irene Vida Gala
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is seeking the support of the Brazilian government to help complete a $13.66 million facility at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi.
An agreement was signed between the two countries for the construction of a Blood and Sickle Cell Centre at the hospital in 2010 but the project has stalled due to some inexplicable reasons.
President Nana Akufo-Addo used the opportunity to appeal to the outgoing Brazilian Ambassador to Ghana Vida Galah when she paid a courtesy call on him at the Flagstaff House yesterday to bid him farewell after five years in Ghana.
“There is one thing I will like you to take with you badly to Brasilia and that is the matter of the sickle cell project at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital; all the various papers have been signed but really there is no movement on the ground…it is one thing that we intend to take up very quickly,” he declared.
That, he said, was because “you know our country; you know how ravaging the disease sickle cell is; it’s a problem for us and there are opportunities to train technicians as well as enhance the capacity to detect them in children and newborn children.”
“Whatever the obstacles or blockages that there were in making that happen, we’re going to tackle them because we think it’s a necessary and relevant project for our country.”
Nana Akufo-Addo reiterated his government’s commitment to strengthening relations between the two countries and acknowledged the Brazilian government’s offer to help develop Ghana’s rail network.
The President expressed happiness at the level of cooperation between the two countries, which he said intensified during the tenure of former Presidents Kufuor and Lula Da Silva when he was Minister for Foreign Affairs, saying “we will continue down the path of deepening our relations with Brazil.”
The President wished her well in endeavours with the firm belief that their paths would cross again.
On her part, Vida Galah, thanked Ghanaians for their hospitality and urged the government to renew the diplomatic relationship between the two countries at the highest level.”
According to her, the relationship between the two countries deepened during her tenure, adding that the number of Brazilians in Ghana had increased from 50 to over 600 in the last five years.
The outgoing Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to Ghana, Heshan Meshaal Al Sowilem, also paid a courtesy call on President Nana Akufo-Addo to bid him farewell.
He said he had personally adopted Ghana as his second home due to the hospitable nature of the people and urged the government to continue to strengthen cordial relations between the two countries.
By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Flagstaff House