The Government has congratulated former president John Agyekum Kufuor for jointly receiving the 2011 World Food Price together with his counterpart Brazilian former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. In a statement signed by Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Deputy Minister of Information, government said it was happy for president Kufuor and that his award should make all Ghanaians proud. Mr. Okudzeto Ablakwa said government had noted the accompanying citation during the ceremony yesterday June 21, 2011 at the US State Department in Washington, which read “Under President Kufuor’s leadership, Ghana became the first sub-Saharan African country to cut in half the proportion of its people who suffer from hunger, and the proportion of people living on less than a dollar per day, on course to meet UN Millenium Development Goal 1.” The citation further added “Continuing Ghana’s tradition of stability, President Kufuor prioritized national agricultural policies: Ghana saw a reduction in its poverty rate from 51.7 percent in 1991 to 26.5 percent in 2008, and hunger was reduced from 34 percent in 1990 down to 9 percent in 2004.” Whiles congratulating former President Kufuor, government also conveyed its best wishes in all his pursuits. The statement concluded that “this award must inspire all political leaders in Ghana to deepen our resolve to the vigorous improvement of the living conditions of our people which must be our only essence in politics.” Hon. Samuel OKUDZETO ABLAKWA DEPUTY MINISTER FOR INFORMATION ACCRA [Wednesday June 22, 2011]