Ms Jean then inspected a guard of honour mounted by a contingent from the Ghana Army and thereafter interacted with the Ministers of State and members of the Diplomatic Corps.
At the end of her interaction with the Ministers of State and members of the Diplomatic Corps, Ms Jean’s attention was caught by the drumming, dancing and acrobatic display by the cultural group.
Apparently enthused by the display, she went to the group to pay her compliments but ended up dancing, to the admiration of the dignitaries.
According to the programme for her visit, Ms Jean will hold bilateral talks with President Kufuor at the Castle and visit places, including the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre and the Supreme Court, as well as Canada-funded projects.
The visit is significant, as this year marks the 100th anniversary of the first major Canadian presence in Ghana’s history.
Besides, Ghana is the first country to receive Canadian development assistance and the country is the third largest trading partner of Canada in sub-Saharan Africa. Canada has decided to give 480 million Canadian dollars to Ghana in support of the country’s development budget annually.
The decision followed the classification of Ghana, from among 14 other African countries, as a country of concentration for Canada’s development assistance.
Receiving the Governor General of Canada, Ms Michelle Jean, at the Castle, Osu, yesterday, President J.A. Kufuor explained that Canada had decided to select a few countries to receive substantial development assistance, instead of spreading the assistance to many countries.
Out of the 25 countries selected by Canada world-wide, 14 of them are in Africa. Ms Jean is in the country for a five-day official visit.
I have to agree with John Murney on this. Our Governor General is making a difference because she is different than other GG's in the Commonwealth.
She is a woman, yep we have had them before, she is a Hatian immigrant a Quebecois and black. And she is touring Africa. And as you can see in the picture above she is not afraid to shake her booty. To get down with the ordinary folks.
Michaelle Jean only 2nd foreigner after Mandela to address Mali's parliament
The forgotten contient. Whose poverty is exasperated by its historic exploitation by the old colonial empires and Islam, and now by climate change created by the developed world but impacting on Africa. So there seems to be no outcry against her trip to Africa unlike the outcry over the last GG's globe hopping.