Amissah-Arthur Is President

Vice President Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur is acting President of Ghana following President John Dramani Mahama�s trip to Ethiopia and Turkey yesterday. According to a statement issued by John Abdulai Jinapor, Presidential Spokesperson, the President�s visit to Turkey is at the invitation of that country�s President, Abdullah Gul, which was extended during his visit to Ghana in 2011. The two leaders are scheduled to discuss trade, economic and cultural cooperation between their countries. Some 60 local business executives and entrepreneurs from various private sector institutions are currently in Turkey for a business and investment forum organized as part of the President�s visit. President Mahama, according to his spokesperson, is also scheduled to attend the 20th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of States and Governments of the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, between Friday January 25 and Tuesday January 29, 2013. President Mahama had earlier taken part in the ECOWAS leaders� meeting on the Malian crisis in Abidjan which authorized contributing countries to the force being assembled for the war against the Islamists in the northern part of Mali, to make the contingents available to the Force Commander. The heads of state also endorsed Maj Gen Shehu Usman Abdulkadir of Nigeria and Brigadier General Yaye Garba of Niger as Force Commander and Deputy Force Commander respectively of the African-led International Support Mission in Mali (AFIAMA). These were contained in a 41-page communiqu� issued by the members at the end of an extraordinary session of the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government in Abidjan. The ECOWAS leaders congratulated President Mahama on his victory and inauguration as President of Ghana.