United States urges Ghana for peaceful elections

By Edmund Mingle
The government of the United States of America yesterday, encouraged Ghana to continue pursuing efforts towards peaceful elections, and commended the government for the measures in entrenching democracy in Ghana.
Visiting US Deputy Secretary of State, William J. Burns, during a call on President John Evans Atta Mills at the Castle, Osu in Accra, said the US was proud of Ghana’s democratic and economic progress.
He said the US, would join Ghanaians in looking forward to peaceful elections, expressing optimism the impending elections would be successful to further consolidate Ghana’s democratic status in Africa.
Mr. Burns also commended Ghana for the economic progress, citing the congenial investment climate that US businesses continue to enjoy in Ghana.
He gave the assurance that the US government was prepared to enhance its partnership with Ghana in addressing development challenges.
Mr. Burns, who is in Ghana to hold bilateral talks with the government focusing on Ghana’s participation in the US government’s “Partnership for Growth” programme that is helping nations to meaningful development results, said the US was proud to partner Ghana in various development interventions.
“This is an important moment in our relationship,” he stressed.
President Mills has reiterated government’s commitment for peaceful, free and fair elections, saying noting would be made to adversely affect the nation’s forward march to socio-economic progress.
“We have a standard to maintain,” he said.
The President expressed appreciation for the continuous support offered Ghana by the US, citing the anticipated second compact under the Millennium Challenge Account for Ghana.
“We value our relationship with the US especially because it inures to the benefit of our people,” he said.
The Partnership for Growth (PFG), is a partnership between the US and a select group of countries to accelerate and sustain broad-based economic growth by putting into practice the principles of President Obama’s September 2010 Presidential Policy Directive on Global Development.
Ghana, El Salvador, Philippines and Tanzania are the first four countries to have agreed to join the programme, which has a core objective of engaging governments, the private sector and civil society with a broad range of tools to unlock new sources of investment, including domestic resources and foreign direct investment.
It which involves rigorous joint analysis of constraints to growth, the development of joint action plans to address those constraints, and high-level mutual accountability for implementation.
By improving coordination, leveraging private investment, and focusing political commitment throughout both governments, the PFG hopes to enable partners to achieve better development results.
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