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Secretary-General Concludes West Africa Visit

13 May 2004

Asantehene
The Adae Kese festival to commemorate the 5th anniversary of the coronation of the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.
Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon concluded the final leg of his West Africa trip in Ghana on Monday, 10 May 2004, by announcing two new scholarships to Cambridge University, UK, for Ghanaian diplomats. The scholarships, which will be funded by the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust and the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, will commence in October 2005. They will enable diplomats to undertake a one-year postgraduate course in subjects relevant to the needs of their country, with preference for International Relations. On completion, work placements will be arranged at the Commonwealth Secretariat.

During his trip the Secretary-General visited The Gambia, Sierra Leone and Ghana where he had separate meetings with the leaders of the three countries - respectively President Yahya Jammeh, President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah and President John Kufuor. He briefed the Presidents on steps taken to implement the decisions made at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting held in Abuja, Nigeria, in December 2003.

 In The Gambia and Sierra Leone, Mr McKinnon had discussions with senior ministers, met cross-party groups of parliamentarians and addressed schoolchildren. In addition while in Sierra Leone he also visited the Special Court in the Sierra Leone capital, Freetown. 

While in Sierra Leone the Secretary-General commissioned the Kamcashew agro-processing plant which is funded by the Commonwealth Secretariat's Fund for Technical Co-operation and the UK's Department for International Development. The processing plant in Kambia, north of the country, will process cashew nuts grown by members of the Magbema Cashew Farmers Association. Many of the Kambia farmers had been unable to harvest their cashew trees for a decade during Sierra Leone's civil war. Mr McKinnon also reviewed the Commonwealth post-conflict technical assistance programme in the country.

 In Ghana, the Secretary-General attended the Adae Kese festival to commemorate the 5th anniversary of the coronation of the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II. The ceremony was attended by President Kufuor and President Tejan Kabbah, among other dignitaries. Around 100,000 participants and spectators attended the festival.

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