Deputy Minister, Joe Baidoe-Ansah, visits Stockholm

The Deputy Minister for Tourism and Diasporan Relations, Mr Joe Baidoe-Ansah, flew back to Accra on Sunday morning after a successful four-day visit to Stockholm at the invitation of the Ghana Union. The Minister, accompanied by Mr Edward E. Komla, Director at the ministry, took the opportunity to hold discussions with a number of Swedish officials. The delegation met Dennis Bederoff, head of Tourism and Industry Affairs at the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth (NUTEK). They also visited the Riksdag (the Swedish Parliament) where they met with representatives of Folkpartiet (the Liberal Party) which is one of the partners in the governing conservative alliance.

Mr Joe Baidoe-Ansah also met with Afro-Svenkarnas Riksförbund (ASR), the national association of Swedes of African descent, and discussed issues of common interest. The minister learnt about the efforts of the organisation to fight discrimination against Africans in Sweden and their attempts to get Sweden to officially acknowledge and accept their extensive role in the slave trade. The minister in turn talked about the work his ministry is doing to link up with the African diaspora, the homecoming conference and a current project involving African-Americans. Mr Baidoe-Ansah, who was once an AFS exchange student in Denmark, visited the offices of the AFS in Stockholm and held discussions with officials there as to the ways cooperation with Ghana could be improved.

Saturday saw the highlight of the minister's visit when he attended the open air cultural day at Eggeby Gård. It was not the best summer weather but the rains stayed away as the minister saw dances by various African groups. There was a barbecue and the minister and his director took the chance to mingle with the people attending and talk with individual Ghanaians. Many Ghanaians, having heard of the minister's visit, came to see and hear him. He met them all at the end of the show. After his speech in which he talked about the government's efforts to improve the lot of the people, it was question time. The Ghanaians, as well as one or two non-Ghanaians, asked questions on a variety of issues like the application for dual citizenship, the implementation of the Representation of the Peoples Amendment Act (ROPAA, a topic dear to the heart of the minister), the change of currency, crime, prison sentences, the energy problem, the use of solar energy, and many more. The minister took time to answer each question as extensively as he could. On the delays in the issuing of dual citizenship, he explained that there were so many applications from all over the world which put pressure on the bureaucratic process. It was only the Minister of Interior who was authorised to sign the applications and he knew personally that the minister spends hours each day signing them. On the people's representation act which would allow Ghanaians resident abroad to vote, he said parliament had passed the act but the implementation was in the hands of the appropriate authorities. The questions enabled the minister to reveal more developments in the country like the criminalisation of female genital mutilation. There were many who still had questions to ask the minister but it was clear the day could not go on forever. Mr Edward E. Komla, director at the ministry, thanked the entire gathering for coming and for the wonderful reception the delegation received from all. He said this was only the second time an invitation by resident Ghanaians abroad had been extended to them, the first being from the USA.

It was not all business, however, as union president, Micah Kissi, and members Kofi Sapathy and John Owusu, took the visitors around a few places in town. But for officials from a ministry of tourism, no visit to any place of interest can just be a pleasure trip. The two officials took in a lot from the few places they visited. They rode the Tvarbanan from Gulmarsplan to Sickla Udde, the Tunnelbana to Centralen, visited IKEA at Skärholmen, took in a few shopping malls and shopping centres, saw the State House but were prevented by bad weather and lack of time from visiting Drottningholms Slott, the Alfred Nobel museum and other tourist attractions that had been lined up for them. They were impressed by everything they saw. They also brought along with them a lot of materials including brochures and films on tourism in Ghana. Some of these materials will be put on our pages for general consumption.

There were many Ghanaians willing to fete the delegation privately and give them a taste of the proverbial Ghanaian hospitality, Stockholm style, but they couldn't attend all. At one such meeting, the minister met and talked with Nana Akosua Fima Juaben II, Queen of Dormaa Ahenkro, who is currently in Stockholm.

The delegation has arrived safely back to Accra.

Kofi Sapathy