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Friends bid
farewell to H.E. Fabrizio
Audrey Micah. Ghanadot
The outgoing Italian Ambassador to Ghana, H.E. Fabrizio De-Agostini,
and his wife were over the weekend
treated to a private farewell
luncheon by Mrs.
Frances Akuete
at her residence in Tema.
Also at the luncheon was
Ex-President J. Kufuor, and some
former ministers of the NPP
government, including
the former Minister of Tourism and Diasporan
Relation,
Ms. Oboshie Sai-Coffie.
Among the invited guests
were the UNICEF Representative Dr. Yasmin
Hague and her husband;
Ms. Ursula Owusu of Westel,
Mr. Nik Amateifio,
former Chairman of the Bank of Ghana and
Mr. Andy Asamoah, the CEO of A&C Mall
at East Legon.
Ambassador De-Agostini, in his speech, described his departure as
filled with mixed feelings, saying he was pleased to have
served Ghana, where he and his wife have enjoyed good
relationship with many Ghanaians.
For
Ambassador De-Agostini,
"Ghana will always be a special place";
a place where he and the wife have spent very positive,
interesting and exciting time
He added that
it was former president Kufuor’s ability to rule Ghana peacefully
that has contributed to
the country’s popularity and
endeared it to the outside world.
“If President Barack Obama chose Ghana
as an example, the merit goes to
Kufuor and the NPP government.” He said
He said during his tour of duty “we managed to have two state
visits; President Kufuor's visit to Italy in 2006 and
a reciprocal visit to Ghana by his Italian counterpart, President
Giorgio Napolitano the following year.”
Ghana and Italy have over the years enjoyed incredible
relationship which
has brought to
fruition the building of the Akosombo Hydroelectric Dam and
AGIP’s involvement in Ghana’s petroleum business,
among many things.
Italy has helped Ghana in diverse ways, including assisting
the Legon Centre for International Affairs, the Kofi Annan
International Peacekeeping Centre and the
numerous grants to
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) for development.
The Ambassador highlighted some of the
important events that happened in Ghana during his tour:
the chance to witness Ghana's
Golden Jubilee anniversary, Mr. Kofi Annan's return to Ghana
after serving two terms as UN Secretary General, the African
Football Championship and President Barack Obama’s visit to
Ghana.
According to him, it was the
foundation of good democratic system,
maintained by the previous government, that supervised the
peaceful change in government from
the majority in government to the opposition party after the 2008
elections.
Mrs. Frances Akuete,
the hostess of the event, in an interview with Ghanadot, explained
that the rationale behind the luncheon
was to express sincere gratitude for the
contributions
the De-Agostinis
have made towards further development
of Ghana.
It was also, in a way, Mrs Akuete's personal
chance to say good-bye to good friends and partners
in the effort to develop Africa.
Ghanadot
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