President Akufo-addo and Ministers eulogize Kofi Annan and AGRA

As Ghanaians mark the first anniversary of the death of Mr Kofi Annan, a former Secretary-General of United Nations, President Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and some of his Ministers have taken turns to eulogise the African icon

Incidentally, the anniversary is memorized with just a few weeks for Ghana to host the African Green Revolution Forum that he was instrumental in establishing.

Speeches gathered by the Ghana News Agency indicate that the contributions of Kofi Annan to sustainable agriculture and massive economic transformation were phenomenal.

While President Akufo-Addo believed he had paid his dues with his immense contributions, some of his Ministers touted his selflessness in imparting knowledge as a contributory factor to Ghana's self-sufficiency in food production and beyond.

President Akufo-Addo said it was worth eulogising the prominent son of Ghana as he provided the inspiration for the formation of AGRA.

He said Ghana would use that inspiration to leverage agriculture to reinforce the interventions such as planting for food and jobs, one village, one dam, one district one factory among other flagship programmes.

Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, Minister of Information said Ghana was a trailblazer in the African continent and was confident that initiatives such as planting for food and jobs, planting for export and rural development would inspire others to followup.

He said this year's AGRA forum slated for Accra from September 3 to September 6 would be attended by eight heads of state and over 30 ministers of finance, agriculture, and trade.

He said Kofi Annan can never be left out in terms of Agricultural transformation, the reason why he needed special mention.

Dr Afriyie Akoto i, Minister of Food and Agriculture said apart from having family links, Kofi Annan had a special interest in planting for food and jobs as he promised introducing him to the Rockefeller Foundation for support before his untimely death.

He promised to make good use of Information, Communication Technology to transform agriculture and make Ghana the center of attraction.

Mr Ken Ofori Atta,.Minister of Finance who described Kofi Annan as 'a great hero of our generation' said he inspired him to be focused in agricultural transformation.

He said the government would continue to pursue workable methodologies that would step up production and reduce importation of food in succeeding years.

Mr Ebenezer Obeng Baffour, Chief Executive officer of CASA de ROPA indicated their readiness to be an integral part of the AGRA forum.

He believed that agricultural mechanization and industrialisation could become major moving factors to enhance growth and development and create more jobs for Ghanaians and beyond