President of Angola, H.E. João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço, has described Ghana as an unmistakable example of democratic maturity and political civility cultivated over the years.
Ghanaians, he said, have demonstrated with dignity a unique ability to lead their destinies in a domestic context of broad national harmony in the process of rescuing the country’s sovereignty and independence.
President João Lourenço stated these when he addressed Parliament on Tuesday on invitation by the Speaker, Rtd. Hon. Alban S.K. Babin, as part of his state visit to Ghana.
According to him, the democratic milestones achieved by Ghana are also the result of the commitment and patriotism of important figures of the nation.
He said, “I would like to highlight Kwame Nkrumah, who became famous in Africa and in the world for his profound dedication to the cause of Africa’s liberation and for his Pan-Africanist vision, from which many of the ideas that guide our continent today derive in the pathway of its journey to assert itself as a respected space on our planet.”
He averred that the first celebration of Angola’s democracy was followed by a frustrating period for all Angolans after several decades of war.
According to him, it was only possible to reach peace and stability through genuine dialogue between the warring brothers of the country.
“We have now a democracy that regularly complies with its elections cycles, with an acceptable extent of maturity, and which allows our National Assembly to address the country’s fundamental problems and concerns within a healthy and harmonious environment.”
“At the heart of the current political debate in Angola is the prompt Constitution amendment aimed at deepening democracy and make it more participatory and inclusive,” he said.
President João Lourenço stated that Ghana and Angola possess enormous resources of various kinds with huge potential to explore much more areas of cooperation to build a solid foundation on which the two states can make prospects for progress and development.
He disclosed that the two states have identified areas for cooperation activities namely in the oil and gas exploration, agro-livestock, tourism, culture and other sectors with direct impact to improve the living conditions of the people.
In his remarks, Hon Alban Bagbin applauded the Angolan President for his commitment to the fight against corruption.
He stated that the huge savings of over US$5 billion that the Angolan administration has made a little over three years by retrieving ill-gotten wealth of corrupt individuals are remarkable.
Fighting corruption, he said, is about vigorously pursuing the nation’s resources and added, “Such outcomes represent yet another major source of funds for the running of every economy.”
Ghana’s Parliament, he said, is encouraged to continue with the pursuit of its watchdog role to give constructive criticism to government agencies and to call on them to account to the people.
He expressed hope Ghana and Angola will remain committed to deeper democratic ideas and working in furtherance of the prosperity of the two countries.
Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, in his comments stated that Ghana was among the first countries to accord recognition to Angola and established a diplomatic mission in December 1976 after it attained independence from Portugal in 1975.
Angola, he said, subsequently reciprocated this in 2005 when it also established a mission in Accra after the end of the civil war and returned to peace and stability.
According to him, over the years bilateral relations between the two states have seen a number of senior government officials from both countries visiting each other.
This, he said, has presented an opportunity to further strengthen the economic ties between the two countries and open other areas of cooperation for the mutual benefit of their citizens.
Minority leader, Haruna Iddrisu, applauded President João Lourenço for not paying lip service to corruption and going all out to recover looted resources back to the Angolan state.
Angola and Ghana, he said, shared a common history on the path to democratic rule with the former emerging from civil war and the latter from military rule.
He urged the Minister for Foreign Affairs to continue with the good work she is pursuing on Ghana’s foreign policy.
Source: MyPublisher24.com
