President John Dramani Mahama on Tuesday held a bilateral meeting with visiting King Mswati III, Ingwenyama of the Kingdom of Eswatini at the Presidency in Accra.
The King, who is on a four-day state visit to Ghana at the invitation of President Mahama, was received at the forecourt of the Presidency with a guard of honour, a number of gun salutes and some cultural performances.
President Mahama warmly welcomed the King and the Queen and their delegation to Ghana.
He reaffirmed the strong bilateral relations between Ghana and the Kingdom of Eswatini, and further pledged to work with the King to boost the relations between their two nations.
The President said King Mswati鈥檚 visit would cement the ties and the relationship that exists between our two countries.
鈥淲e wish to warmly welcome you to the country of freedom and justice, the first nation south of the Sahara to gain independence, and which was responsible for most of the liberation struggles that liberated the rest of Africa from colonial rule,鈥 he said.
鈥淕hana believes that we must continue to forge even closer ties. Our first President, President Kwame Nkrumah, had actually talked of African unity over and over again.
鈥淯nfortunately, the dream was not realised in his time. But I think that it would be wholesome, as the leaders of today, to do whatever we can to bring our countries even closer today, together.鈥
President Mahama said the establishment of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Protocol, had allowed African countries to be able to ship goods and services to each other鈥檚 markets.
He said the King鈥檚 visit and their bilateral discussions formed the framework for the cooperation that existed between their two countries.
On his part, King Mswati congratulated President Mahama on his victory in Ghana鈥檚 December 7, 2024 general election.
He expressed gratitude to President Mahama, the Government and People of Ghana for the warm reception accorded him and his delegation to Ghana.
He said having known the history of Ghana; that it was amongst the African countries, which were the ones to defeat colonization and stabilize the African region.
鈥淪o many things have come out of here. So many of the leaders have put frameworks for all of us in Africa,鈥 the King said.
He acknowledged the big role of Ghana in the establishment of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), now the African Union (AU).
He said the OAU had transformed into AU, which was trying to transform the people of Africa, make Africa a place of great opportunities and to make Africa the one they want with African solutions.
He called for the strengthening of cooperation between the two countries in areas such as trade and investment.
He said the AfCFTA was trying to promote trade within Africa and that it was high time African countries trade more among themselves.
King Mswati paid tribute to Mr Kofi Annan, the former Secretary-General of the United Nations for the important role he played as the UN Secretary-General; declaring that 鈥淎nd we were very proud of him, of his work鈥.
He also commended Madam Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, Ghana鈥檚 former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration on her successful assumption of office as the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth.
King Mswati expressed the hope that his visit to Ghana would offer them the opportunity to see how the two countries could share in a lot of information, exchange of culture, trade, and tourism, and other sectors that were there.
Touching on exchange visits, the King said: 鈥淲e are so happy that we have quite a big community from Ghana, which are staying in Eswatini, and I can assure you, Excellency, that all of them, they are well behaved. So there is nothing you can do about it. And they are contributing a lot into the economy of Eswatini鈥.
鈥淎nd we are looking for more opportunities like this one. Let鈥檚 work together and let鈥檚 see what things we can do.鈥
At the meeting, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between the two countries; Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Foreign Minister signed for Ghana; whereas Madam Pholile Shakantu, Eswatini鈥檚 Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, signed for her country.
In attendance at the meeting was Vice President Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang.
King Mswati鈥檚 four-day state visit to Ghana will take him to Kumasi for a visit to the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.
Source: GNA