President Akufo-Addo Reiterates Commitment To Construct Railway Between Ghana And Burkina Faso

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo says one of the highlights of his presidency is to work with Burkina Faso to begin the Accra-Ouagadougou railway project.

He said his commitment to the international railway project was evidenced by the fact that right at the beginning of his government, he established a special Ministry of Railways Development in Ghana.

He was speaking at a state dinner organised in his honour by President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré of Burkina Faso as part of his two-day visit to Burkina Faso.
 
“I would be very disappointed if the two sides are unable to find a solution to how we can get the Accra-Ouagadougou railway going,” President Akufo-Addo said.
 
The President was in Ouagadougou last Thursday for a two-day official visit to Burkina Faso as part of a tour of that country, with his agenda being “to develop the initiatives that will bring prosperity to our people’’.
 
“It would be, for me, perhaps, the highlight of my presidency if, indeed, I was able, together with you (President Kaboré), to launch the beginning of the Accra-Ouagadougou railway project.”

Prior to the issuing of the communiqué, President Roch Marc Christian Kabore decorated President Akufo-Addo with the highest national award of Burkina Faso, the Grand Croix de l’Ordre National.

President Akufo-Addo stated that the other concern of the government was about the control of the water resources in Ghana and Burkina Faso, adding that those were matters that he and his Burkinabe counterpart would have to address.

The President made reference to the yearly opening of the Bagre Dam spillway, which caused flooding in the three regions of the north, usually resulting in the destruction of lives, farmlands, livestock, and property.

For that reason, the President said, his delegation included the Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Mr. Kofi Adda, the Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Samuel Atta Akyea, and the Minister of Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, so that with their Burkinabe counterparts, they could find a solution to that phenomenon by channeling the water spilled from the dam into productive ventures for the mutual benefit of the two countries. 

GBC