PRESS RELEASE

GHANAIAN ASSOCIATION IN MIDDLESBROUGH LEADS £10 TO-SAVE-A-LIFE APPEAL CONTRIBUTORS WITH £1,500 DONATION

Ghana Union in Middlesbrough now tops the list of donors to the £10 To-Save-A-Life Appeal Fund with a donation of £1,500. They are closely followed by Staff of the Ghana High Commission, London and Ahmadiyah Movement Association UK with contributions of £1,220 and £1,000 respectively.

Dr. Emmanuel Akuffo, Chairman of the £10 To-Save-A-Life Appeal Committee and his wife also tops the list of individual contributors with a donation of £1,400

The Ghana Union in Middlesbrough which emerged as the third highest group contributor to the Mission’s charity project launched last year to support the Ghana Police Force, raised the amount at its annual fundraising dinner dance.

The event which attracted Ghanaians and friends of Ghana from other parts of the UK including Wales, Edinburgh and Glasgow is held annually by the Ghanaian community in Middlesbrough to enable them fraternise and forge ties with their compatriots living in other parts of the UK as well as mobilise resources for development projects in Ghana.

Dignitaries present at the event included Mr. Kwabena Baah-Duodu, the Deputy Ghana High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and his wife Mrs. Edith Baah-Duodu; Professor Agyeman Badu Akosa, Director-General of the Ghana Health Service; Dr. Sam Debrah, President of the Ghana Union in Middlesbrough and his Deputy Dr. George Bray.

Speaking at the function, Mr. Baah-Duodu said that the challenges facing a developing country like Ghana were enormous and that "it took a serious government like the one we have now and such patriotic in Middlesbrough to overcome them".

He said the Mission’s charity projects provided Ghanaians in the diaspora with a golden opportunity to give back to the nation what had been invested in them.

The Deputy High Commissioner observed that the Union’s ground-breaking donation to the Police Appeal Fund last year set the tone for the success of the Appeal and stated that the campaign would help bolster efforts of the Ghana Police force to maintain law and order.

On the Ghanaian economy, Mr. Baah-Duodu stated that it remained on track in spite of the recent astronomical increases in oil prices on the world market because of the solid foundations laid by the government.

On his part Professor Akosa urged the Ghanaian community in the UK to throw their weight behind the £10-To-Save-A-Life Appeal Fund and stressed that the refurbishment of Ghana’s premier health institution was the first step towards improving the quality of health care in the country as a whole.

He said the increase in the health budget from 9% to 11% in the national recurrent budget over the past two years amply demonstrated the government’s commitment to the development of the health sector.

Dr. Debrah extended his personal appreciation to the patrons and friends of the Union for their unflinching support and expressed the hope that they would continue to assist the Union in future.

The Union’s special award for the year went to Ghana’s High Commissioner to the UK, Mr. Isaac Osei and his Deputy, Mr. Kwabena Baah-Duodu for their outstanding contributions to the development of the Ghanaian community in the United Kingdom.

Mr. Baah-Duodu received both awards which were presented by Professor Akosa.

ISSUED BY THE
GHANA HIGH COMMISSION, LONDON
14 SEPTEMBER 2004