President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle were served with specially grilled mouth-watering tilapia, locally grinded red pepper and ‘shito’ with sizzling hot balls of Ga and Fanti kenkey, during their welcome breakfast meeting at the Osu Castle last Saturday. The First Family of the United States, their entourage, and all the Ghanaian dignitaries, were also treated to delicious Ewe Abolo with fried fish and pork sausage, waakye, Hausa kooko, white porridge and Quaker oats, this paper has been reliably informed. Among those who were served with the locally prepared breakfast menu were Ministers of State, Members of Parliament (MPs), Members of the Diplomatic Corps, presidential candidates of the 2008 general elections and traditional rulers. It was not immediately clear whether the choice of the local dishes instead of the usual tea, coffee and baked beans for the august guests, by the government was to avoid being further accused of using billions of cedis on tea and snacks as the Transition Team reportedly did recently. Meanwhile, President Barack Obama, at the breakfast meeting for about 300 guests that included Vice President John Mahama, former President Jerry John Rawlings and former President John Agyekum Kufuor, hailed Ghana for the country’s sterling performance as a thriving democratic state, according to a Ghana News Agency (GNA) report. He gave the assurance that his administration would make it a cardinal part of US policy to partner with their Ghanaian counterpart to develop a growth strategy that would enable her become a successful nation. Admitting that he had been a “long admirer” of Ghana, President Obama declared that a centre-piece of his administration would be to ensure that progressive countries like Ghana were not made marginal, but a cardinal part of US foreign policy. “Africa is not separated from the rest of the world,” the US President affirmed, arguing that Ghana, like other African nations making progress in democratic and economic tenets, must be offered appreciable support to enable them become self-sustaining, but cautioned against slackness in sustaining the momentum as the US offered the support to bring about the expected dividends. Describing Ghana as an extraordinary country, President Obama recognized the sacrifices the people had to make in getting to their current stage. President Obama praised both ex-Presidents Rawlings and Kufour for their part in galvanizing the people in support of democracy that honoured the liberty of all citizens. President Mills’ appointment of women to key positions pleased the US President. He was of the view that encouraging more women in key leadership positions would make Ghana more viable and open to divergent ideas as “women make strong nation”. He said under his administration, the US government would seek firm collaboration with thriving nations such Ghana, which he admitted had achieved “extra-ordinary success on the African continent” to promote economic, social and accountable systems for the benefit of the people. Africa has often been relegated to the back burner in US policies but President Barack Obama assured President Mills, during an interaction at the Castle Osu that “Africa would not be separated from the rest of the world” in the pursuit of US policies. He urged President Mills’ government not to slip from the path he had chosen, insisting that transparent leadership and openness will ensure more prosperity and stability for Ghana. While thanking Ghanaians for the warm reception accorded his family since arriving in Ghana on Friday, the visiting US leader expressed the readiness of his administration to work with Africa to spur change in economic development of the continent with countries like Ghana being the lead agents of that change. Source: Daily Guide