Alhaji Muhammed Mumuni is to serve the unexpired term of Dr Mohammed Ibn Chambas as Secretary General of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States.
This follows his endorsement by the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Commission for West African States (ECOWAS) at the just-ended 42nd Ordinary Session of ECOWAS at Yamoussoukro, the political capital of Cote dIvoire.
President John Dramani Mahama proposed Alhaji Mumumi to his colleague Heads of State, who unanimously endorsed him.
Alhaji Mumumi is the immediate past Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration Minister and the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) for Kumbungu in the Northern Region.
The 80-member ACP Group of States is the largest transnational and intergovernmental organisation committed to multilateral diplomacy, trade and development.
The Secretary-General position became vacant following the appointment of Dr. Ibn Chambas on December 20, 2012 as Joint Special Representative for Darfur and Head of the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) by the United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon, and the African Union Commission Chairperson, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.
Dr Ibn Chambas was elected during the 90th session of the Council of Ministers of the ACP in November 2009 and assumed office as Secretary-General of the ACP on March 1, 2010 for a five-year term. His tenure would have ended in 2015.
President Mahama, therefore, took the opportunity of the vacant position, which is to be filled by the ECOWAS, to propose Alhaji Mumuni as a worthy replacement for Dr Ibn Chambas to build on the legacy of Dr Ibn Chambas in furtherance of the objectives of the ACP.
It is, however, unclear whether, with his new appointment, Alhaji Mumuni would vacate his seat as MP.
Alhaji Mumuni told the Daily Graphic that he saw the appointment as a national responsibility and, therefore, he could not afford to disappoint the President and Ghanaians.
I am happy with this piece of news and I welcome it and I am determined to make available my expertise to the member states of the ACP and the world as a whole, he said.
On the issue of whether he would vacate his seat as MP or not, he said the details of the appointment were yet to be known.
He said it was only after he knew the details that the NDC would meet to decide on the next line of action.
Meanwhile, reports indicate that President Mahama has also put a team together to assist Mr. Alan Kyeremanten in his ongoing effort to clinch the position of Director General of the World Trade Organisation.
The ECOWAS heads of state and government have already endorsed the candidature of Ghana's former Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Alan Kyerematen, as the Director General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
Speaking with journalists on the endorsement of Alhaji Mumuni and Mr Kyerematen, Ghana's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Ms Hannah Tetteh, said Alhaji Mumuni was an experienced diplomat, having served as Ghana's Minister of Foreign Affairs.
On Mr Kyerematen's endorsement by the Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS, she said his candidature needed to be endorsed by the African Union (AU) and other regional bodies to consolidate his position.
Ms Tetteh said the endorsement received by Ghana meant that the country's image as a democratic country with rich human capital was being recognised by its neighbours.
She said it was also a further boost to Ghana coming after the impeccable record of Mr Kofi Annan as the UN Secretary General.
Source: Daily Graphic
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