Ghana’s mission in Ivory Coast is functional but… – Mumuni

Foreign Affairs Minister Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni has denied reports that Ghana’s Embassy in Cote D’Ivoire has been closed down.

The Statesman Newspaper edition of Wednesday April 20 said the entire workers of the embassy in Abidjan, including the Ambassador, Col E.K.T Donkor (rtd), have been evacuated to Ghana and the mission closed down.

According to the Paper, the evacuation was forced by perceived or real threats to the lives of staff of the embassy after Laurent Gbagbo’s arrest which subsequently saw Alassane Ouattara taking charge as the legitimate elected President of Cote d’Ivoire.

The Paper claimed that the latest development is perhaps due to Ghana’s ‘contradictory position’ on the Ivorian situation which appeared to have betrayed the regional body, ECOWAS, and by extension, given the impression that President Mills was in support of Laurent Gbagbo.

But Foreign Minister Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni told Citi News the Newspaper’s report is inaccurate.

“That report is utterly wrong and an exaggeration. In the week that Mr. Gbagbo was captured, the security situation in Ivory Coast had deteriorated significantly so it was adjudged that it was not safe for our Embassy to operate fully so Government decided to evacuate the non-essential staff of the mission to Accra. So we left a skeleton staff essentially people who were involved in the evacuation contingency plans for Ghanaian citizens who were ready to come home. So it is never really true that we have closed down our mission because that has certain diplomatic connotations,” he noted.

He could however not confirm the Newspaper’s report that Ghana’s Ambassador was secretly flown to Accra aboard the Presidential jet on Monday.

He said although he is yet to make contact with the Ambassador, his visits to Ghana are purely for consultation purposes.

Hon. Mumuni rejected the perception that President Mills supported Mr. Gbagbo.

“Ghana has had full diplomatic relations with Ivory Coast and President Mills had said that he has no preference as to who rules Cote D’Ivoire and that it was the right of the Ivorian people. Even in the aftermath of the capture of Mr. Gbagbo, government came out to say that what had happened was a new opportunity to rescue the peace process in that country, to build a durable and sustainable peace as a foundation for national reconstruction and that Ghana was committed to support that effort. So clearly there is no love lost between the two countries.” he stated.

Mr. Mumuni said the Embassy will resume full operations when the situation in Abidjan returns to normalcy.

Source: Citifmonline.com