<<Print>>

President John Dramani Mahama, on Wednesday swore-in Sir James Bebako-Mensah as the first Ghanaian Ambassador to the Vatican, since the creation of a Mission by Ghana at that city-state, this year. He said the creation of the Mission and the subsequent swearing-in of the Ambassador was in fulfillment of government�s desire to reciprocate the gesture of the Catholic Church, which had for several years posted Apostolic Nuncios to Ghana. President Mahama said the Catholic Church had been a major partner of Ghana in the areas of education, health, potable water and sanitation. He said the creation of the Mission would go a long way to strengthen the cooperation between Ghana and the Church that had exited over the years. Sir Bebako-Mensah served as Secretary to Cabinet during the second term of former President Jerry John Rawlings, retiring from civil service in April 2001. He was recalled from retirement in January in 2009 to work as Secretary to late President John Evans Atta Mills, a position he served until early this year. In 2006, Sir Bebako-Mensah was decorated with the Companion of the Order of the Volta for his distinguished service in the Public Service. He was awarded the knighthood of the Order of the Saint Gregory the Great by Pope Benedict XVI for his distinguished service to the Catholic Church and the State. President Mahama said considering the Catholic population in Ghana and the numerous development projects that the church had established in the country, it was only fair for government to establish a Mission that would coordinate the relations between Ghana and the Vatican. Mr Bebako-Mensah said he would work round the clock to foster and deepen relations between Ghana and the Vatican, to fight against poverty and to enhance inter-faith dialogue in the Vatican and Ghana. He promised to perform up to the expectation of government and the people of Ghana, by working with the Vatican to ensure success in education, health and other areas of development. In a related development, Mr Aydin Nurham, Turkish Ambassador to Ghana, who has ended his duty tour of the country, was at the Flagstaff House, Accra, to announce his departure from Ghana, to the President. Also at the Presidency to announce his departure, was Mr Ismail Omar, Country Director of the World Food of Programme, who had completed his five-year duty tour of Ghana.