Accra, Dec. 3, GNA – Dr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, former Ghana’s Ambassador to the United States, says the ascension of Mr. Kofi Annan to the position of the Secretary General, United Nations, was a momentous occasion in his career.
Dr. Spio-Garbrah revealed that the ascension of Mr. Annan to the position of UN Secretary General was both a reflection of Ghana’s international heft as well as the thawing of relations between Ghana and the West at that time.
He made this comment during a recent edition of the “Fireside Chat” Series hosted by the Institute of International Affairs Ghana (GhIIA.org) in Accra.
The GhIIA Fireside Chat Series is a platform that provides key players in Ghana’s International Affairs landscape an opportunity to share their experiences and reflections on their storied careers with the members of the Institute and the public.
Dr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah was instrumental in the influence of Ghana’s bilateral relations between the United States (US) and Ghana.
He had a long illustrious career which spans four decades, across the fields of diplomacy, governance, banking and communication.
On the relationship between Ghana and her international partners, he said late former President Jerry John Rawlings had had the greatest impact on Ghanaian international relations, bar Kwame Nkrumah.
He noted that later “President Rawlings’ pragmatic political philosophy provided him the strength to put the interest of the country above political ideology and alliances.
“Thus, in consideration of Ghana’s best economic interests, he swung Ghana towards the West, despite his reservations,” he added.
He observed that, the good relationships that Ghana had maintained with the US since then could be credited as one of the reasons for Ghana’s decades of democratic stability.