United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, has highly praised Ghana for continuing to uphold the principles of the UN Charter and for being a significant player in the UN’s activities. He spoke highly of Ghana’s longstanding high-flying role in international peace keeping operations in troubled areas like Darfur. The UN Chief was speaking in an interaction with president John Evans Atta Mills on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly currently underway in New York. According to Ban Ki Moon, Ghana continues to be a guiding light in peace keeping matters and hoped the country will continue to maintain her enviable stature. He also spoke highly of Ghana’s bright democratic path, and lauded President Mills’ effort at persuading the leadership of Togo to come out of the up-coming election with greater democratic credentials. According to the UN Chief, the United Nations is encouraged by the democratic credentials of Ghana and hoped that Ghana will continue to be a beacon of hope in the West Africa sub region in particular, and on the African Continent in general. On his part, President John Atta Mills thanked the SG for his words of encouragement and pledged that his Administration will continue to broaden the frontiers of Ghana’s democracy. “We have experimented with other forms of governance styles but we are persuaded that genuine democracy is the model that will best serve the nation’s interest and help us achieve our developmental objectives, and we have no choice but to stay the course” President Mills said. He added that it is a source of joy and pride to Ghana that the world is paying attention to her democratic process and that there is no doubt that Ghanaians are committed to working to give more meaning to democracy. President John Atta Mills, at the on-going 64th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, is expected today, to meet President Barrack Obama together with Heads of State who contribute troops to UN Peace Keeping operations, and will also meet with British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, and the President of the World Bank, Mr. Robert Zoellick. He will address the General Assembly Thursday sometime between 9.30 a.m. and 10.30 a.m. New York time, which is between 1.30 p.m. and 2.30 p.m. Ghana time. Ghana Television is expected to telecast the President’s address live. Credit: Koku Anyidoho (Head, Communications)