ACCRA, Nov 26 — Ghana and Togo will soon have border crossing which are open round the clock once negotiations between the technical teams of the two countries are concluded, says President John Dramani.
President Faure Essozimna Gnassingbe of Togo had presented a proposal to the Government of Ghana, which the technical teams were currently working on, for approval and implementation, President Mahama announced this when he and President Gnassingbe held talks at State House here. The Togo leader is on a three-day State visit to Ghana.
President Gnassingbe would be visiting the West Hills Mall in Accra, visit and lay wreaths at the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Mausoleum, before moving to Aflao, in the southeastern corner of Ghana on the border with Togo, where he would be inaugurating a railway project.
Noting that Ghana and Togo were bonded historically and geographically, and therefore the colonial barriers were only considered as artificial structures and not limitations, President Mahama said the 24-hour opening of the border would not only facilitate the movement of goods and services between the two countries, but would also enhance free trade between them.
He commended President Gnassingbe for Togo’s handling of the current West African Ebola outbreak which he was tasked with at the last extraordinary summit of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) held in Accra.
He said Togo had also been instrumental in restoring peace in Liberia, Ivory Coast, Mali and Sierra Leone, during the political crises in those fellow-ECOWAS countries, adding that Togo had also played a meaningful role in the current Burkina Faso political crisis.
President Gnassingbe, on his part, said it was the first time a sitting President in Togo had paid a state visit to Ghana, although they were the closest neighbours. He said his visit would pave the way for bilateral co-operation, and build a new harmony which would enhance mutual benefits.
President Gnassingbe said he was expecting the two countries in the coming days to use a common voice for the development of their countries, while also pointing out that “General Ankrah was the only Ghanaian Head of State who paid a state visit to Togo in 1968”.
He said although the relations between the two countries had had their ups and downs, he was ready to cement those relations to bridge the gaps that existed, for posterity.
SOURCE: GNA
