Kufuor lauds Toure on Mali election victory

President John Agyekum Kufuor on Monday congratulated the Malian President Amadou Toumani Toure on his re-election for a second term. "I believe it is as much a testimony to the maturity of the country's political and democratic institutions under your presidency, as it is a tribute to your personal commitment to the tenets of democracy and transparency, very much appreciated by Africa and the wider international community at this critical period of the continent's history," President Kufuor said in a letter to President Toure.

A press release signed by Mr Andrew Awuni, Press Secretary to the President and Presidential Spokesman, said as President Kufuor, who is the current Chairman of African Union, prepares to welcome Heads of State to Accra for the forthcoming AU Summit, he believes that the overriding themes of debates, the personal and collective commitment of African leaders to the continent's renaissance would very much determine the destiny of the continent for years to come.

It said President Kufuor also looked forward to deepening the long-standing bilateral relations and expanding the frontiers of cooperation between Ghana and Mali to benefit both countries mutually.GNA

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Kufuor to visit South Africa on Sunday

President John Agyekum Kufuor, Chairman of the African Union, leaves Accra for Johannesburg, South Africa, on Sunday to attend the opening of the Seventh Ordinary Session of the Pan-African Parliament (PAF).He is scheduled to address the Parliament, the first time ever, by an AU Chairman.A press release signed by the Press Secretary and Presidential Spokesperson, Mr Andrew Awuni, said the Session would focus on four major issues - Environment and Climate Change, Peace and Security, NEPAD and the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) as well as the Union Government of Africa.

The PAP was established in March 2004 in accordance with Article 17 of the Consultative Act of the AU, as one of its organs provided for in the treaty establishing the African Economic Community signed in Abuja, Nigeria, in 1991.The release said whilst in South Africa, President Kufuor would also hold bilateral talks with his South African counterpart, President Thabo Mbeki and other senior Government Officials. He is expected back home on Wednesday, May 9.
Source:GNA

BOG Starts Circulating New Ghana Money Today

The Bank of Ghana (BoG) will this morning launch the new Ghana Cedis and Pesewas at the Bank’s auditorium, High Street Accra. The introduction of the new currency has become necessary as a result of re-denomination of the Ghanaian currency the cedi, which takes effect on July 1, 2007.

When the redenomination takes effect, ¢100,000 would represent the current ¢1,000,000.00 and ¢10,000 the current ¢100,000, while the current ¢10,000 would be the same as ¢1.00 within the new currency.According to the Ghana Central Bank however, the quantity and quality of goods that an equivalent of the money in circulation now can purchase would be the same as what the new cedi currency which would be launched tomorrow would be able to procure, hence the refrain that has run through adverts aired and played on air for some months now.Officials of the bank say the added advantage of the new currency is that it would be less cumbersome to carry and also enhance business transactions while maintaining the value of the Ghanaian cedi.

As to whether the new currency would match up with the major currencies of the world, Esi Hammond of the Public Relations Unit, Bank of Ghana asserted that the rate of exchange would still be determined by the market foraces of demand and supply. “It is not the redenomination or re-calibration of the cedis that would check prices and thus influence inflation but the interplay of sound macro-economic practices.Fiscal discipline is needed and when monetary policies go haywire that brings about inflation, but when government does its part and does not overspend, that checks rise in inflation which has been kept steady for a while,” the BoG official stated.
Source:GHP

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Bird Flu Surfaces In Ghana

Ghana's first case of the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu has been confirmed by local laboratories and a U.S. naval laboratory in Egypt, a World Health Organisation official said on Wednesday.
Some 1,600 birds had already been incinerated at the infected chicken farm 20 km (13 miles) east of the capital Accra near the port of Tema, Dr Harry Opata, WHO disease prevention and control officer.

Earlier this week, officials said they were investigating a suspected outbreak of the disease in birds around the prot city of Tema. Though H5N1 had been documented elsewhere in the region, Ghana had not previously had a case confirmed, said Dr. George Amofa, head of public health for Ghana's Health Ministry.

Sophia Twum-Barimah, a spokeswoman for WHO in Accra, said the virus was first detected by a Ghanaian lab and then confirmed by an Egyptian research center.
H5N1 has killed at least 172 people worldwide since it began its spread through Asian poultry in 2003, according to WHO. Most human deaths come from contact with infected birds, but experts fear H5N1 could mutate into a form that spreads easily among people.
Africa's most populous nation, Nigeria, was the first on the continent to report an outbreak of the disease last year. Outbreaks have also been reported in Cameroon, Djibouti, Egypt, Niger, Ivory Coast, Sudan and Burkina Faso.

Ghana had stepped up surveillance to try to prevent incursion of the disease: banning imported poultry and related products from Asia and some neighboring countries, including Nigeria and Ivory Coast.The virus is particularly worrisome in Africa, where poverty and poor health care means disease spreads quickly.In January, a young woman became the first Nigerian to die from H5N1. Djibouti and Egypt have also reported infections in humans and eleven people have died of the disease in Egypt.
Source:GHP

Ghana's May Day in Pictures