Pictures
of Otumfuo in Holland
26 – 06 – 2002: - Asantehene back home after Netherlands tour
26 – 06 – 2002: - Asantehene returns after touring the Netherlands
25 – 06 – 2002: - Otumfuo tours Holland
23 –06 – 2002: - Durbar for Otumfuo in Holland
21 – 06 – 2002: - Ghana -Netherlands relations have improved
19 – 06 – 2002: - Otumfuo canvasses support for education, health in Netherlands
18 – 06 – 2002: - Asantehene in Netherlands
Accra (Greater Accra) 26 June 2002- The Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II returned home Tuesday evening after a seven-day reciprocate visit to the Netherlands as part of the celebration marking 300 years of Ghana-Dutch relations. Otumfuo Osei Tutu was met on arrival by Ministers of State, traditional rulers and the Charge de' Affairs of the Dutch Embassy in Accra.
Speaking to Journalists at the Kotoka International Airport on behalf of the Asantehene, Oheneba Agyemang, Atweredo and Hiahene of Kumasi, described the visit as successful and educative. He said the Asantehene met the Queen of the Netherlands as well as government officials and discussed with them how best to strengthen the economic and cultural relations existing between the two countries.
Oheneba Agyeman said Otumfuo Osei Tutu also held discussions with the business community and officials of Phillips Medical System on investment opportunities in the Ghana. The Asantehene, he said briefed the Ghanaian community in the Netherlands on the current socio-economic and political developments in Ghana and urged them to be law abiding.
Otumfuo expressed the hope that the discussions he held with the business community in the Netherlands would yield positive results.
GRi…/
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Accra (Greater Accra) 26 June 2002- Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, Asantehene returns home this evening after a royal visit to the Netherlands. Otumfuo Osei Tutu paid a weeklong official visit to the Netherlands at the invitation of Queen Beatrix and the government of the Netherlands. He used the occasion to highlight the major challenges facing 'our people at home" and canvassed support for education and the health sectors.
Otumfuo held a meeting at the Dutch Foreign Affairs Ministry and addressed a roundtable conference hosted by the Ministry on the theme: 'Development Opportunities in Ghana'.
He was the keynote speaker at a Business Forum hosted by the Netherlands-Africa Business Council. Her Majesty, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, received the Asantehene in audience at the Palace Huis Ten Bosch. The Ghanaian community in the Netherlands held a durbar in his honour at the Amstel Hall in Amsterdam.
GRi…/
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Amsterdam (Holland) 25 June 2002 - Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has been hosted by a number of institutions and companies here in the Netherlands as part of his weeklong official visit.
At the City Hall of the City of Amsterdam, Mayor Job Cohen received Otumfuo and his delegation and together with his 12-member reception team that included aldermen, South-East District Council Members and University professors exchanged views on how best to co-operate in health, education and economic sectors.
"We have a lot to do to concretise these discussions, there is a lot we can do for our two nations" concluded Dr. Donkor Fordwuor, leader of the Economic team to Otumfuo.
At the Amsterdam Port Authority, Mr. Mark van der Horst, President of the Authority led a tour of the port area and hosted a luncheon at which a toast was proposed to the health of Asantehene.
Accompanied by his entourage, Otumfuo was later taken on a tour of the Heinekens Museum Brewery at which Board Member, Mr Lubsen Howe, Middle East and Africa director and Mr Van Mannesen, Managing director for West Africa held private discussions with him and discussed among other things Heinekens investment in Ghana.
On Friday 21 June, Otumfuo was received at the Jan Schoemaker Cocoa factory where "Abinkyi" cocoa from Ghana is processed. The Municipality of Almere that is a twin sister-city of Kumasi Municipal Authority had also hosted him.
Here, school children from Almere and a Ghanaian dance and drum group, the Adehyeman thrilled him and his delegation with immaculate Ghanaian drumming and dancing. After being welcomed by her Majesty the Queen's Commissioner of the Province of Flevoland and the Deputy Mayor of Almere. Asantehene's delegation was taken through an art exhibition mounted by Ghanaian artist Nana-Dankwa on the theme "Asante Adinkra in Calligraphy". Otumfuo congratulated Nana Dankwa for his "wonderful creativity".
Later, Dr Donkor Fordwuor and Dr Lovelace Prempeh held discussions on bilateral co-operation and business opportunities wit the Chamber of Commerce of the Province of Flevoland and the business association of Almere. Otumfuo was also the guest of honour at the Royal Tropical Museum Institute where the Ghana National Dance Company performed and where there were children's performances at a small replica of Manhyia Palace which has been constructed.
GRi…/
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Amsterdam (Holland) 23 June 2002 - Hundreds of Ghanaians in other parts of Europe joined their compatriots in the Netherlands to accord Otumfuo Osei Tutu ll, Asantehene, a tumultuous welcome when he arrived at the Amstel Hall, in Amsterdam RAI on Saturday for a durbar.
The Ghanaians, all wearing a specially-designed adinkra black and white cloth, sang and danced to the delight of the Dutch and Surinamese nationals who had also come to the ceremony. The organising committee had a hard time getting the programme started as cameramen and enthusiastic Ghanaians charged on the King as he sat on the podium.
After a welcome delegation, made up of the Mayor of Amsterdam, representatives of the Ghanaian community and inhabitants of Amsterdam South-East, had greeted the Asantehene, Ghana's Ambassador for the Netherlands, Dr Grace Amponsah Ababio read her address in which she recounted some of the achievements of Otumfuo since he ascended the Golden Stool.
"In life, we find many men who are great, and some who are good, but few men who are both great and good; Otumfuo has proved beyond doubt that he is not just great and good, but also very wise," she told a cheering audience, and urged them to support Asantehene's initiatives.
Mayor Job Cohen of Amsterdam praised the 300 year old relationship between the Netherlands and Ghana and indicated that the people of Amsterdam were very proud and pleased to host Otumfuo. This was corroborated by the Chairlady of South East District Council Mrs Elvira Sweet, who went further to ask for special 'partnership' with Ashanti.
The Ghanaian community had been waiting for this occasion to present some of the problems of asylum-seekers. Mr Appiah Osei, who spoke on their behalf, asked Otumfuo to intervene and ask for special concessions for Ghanaians who were toiling in Holland.
The Asantehene, who spoke in Twi, thanked his hosts for a 'wonderful programme' and also praised Ghanaians for the 'high commendation' given them by Dutch Government officials and employers. He reminded Ghanaians living abroad that conditions were deteriorating in their villages and they should therefore set aside some savings towards developments in their villages.
Otumfuo urged the Ashantes among them to contribute to the Education and Health Funds which he had instituted. Responding to the request of the Ghanaians, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II informed them that he had already made an appeal for amnesty for all Ghanaians in his meetings with the Queen and the Government of the Netherlands. He repeated his call, this time in public, for the Government of the Netherlands, to symbolize the 300 year old relationship and his visit to the Netherlands with the granting of 'unconditional amnesty' for all Ghanaians currently living in Holland and to 'allow them legal stay in the country'.
Loud cheers and applause met this announcement and sparked
spontaneous singing and dancing to end the durbar. Commenting on the occasion,
a Ghanaian resident, Kwame Kyei-Baffour, said: "This is a great day for us
in Europe. Otumfuo has made us proud. And we wish the Dutch Government would
heed his appeal." - Accra Mail
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By Kojo Yankah, at The Hague
The Hague (Netherlands) 21 June 2002- Ghana has been selected to receive concentrated bilateral aid from the Netherlands because it had fulfilled the criteria of good governance, sound macro-economic and social policies and poverty level.
The Director-General of Regional and Consular Policy of the Dutch Foreign Ministry, Mr P. P. van Wulften Palthe told the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu ll at a meeting in The Hague on Tuesday. The Asantehene is on a royal visit to the Netherlands.
Mr van Wulften Palthe said The Netherlands was involved in supporting the health and environmental sectors in the country adding that Dutch structural bilateral support for Ghana had increased from around five million Euros in 1999 to 33 million Euros in 2002.
This was in addition to Balance of Payments support of 80 million Euros provided Ghana to compensate for the economic downturn as a result of worsened commodity prices and the hike in that of oil in 2001. "This is a sign of our government's commitment to the development of Ghana", the Foreign Ministry official said.
On future collaboration, Mr van Wulften Palthe said Holland was looking forward to Ghana's finalisation of the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy to enable the Dutch Government to give bilateral support to Ghana' priority areas.
He praised the local Ghanaian community as hard-working and friendly and saying, "Ghana has very good ambassadors in its community in Holland'. Otumfuo Osei Tutu expressed satisfaction with the warm relations between Ghanaians and the Dutch and expressed the hope that Holland would continue to address some of the concerns of the Ghanaians when they came up.
After the briefing session, Otumfuo was given the opportunity to address a meeting of all Dutch non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working in Ghana. He thanked them for the support they were giving to various communities in Ghana and said that such forms of assistance went a long way to supplement government efforts.
The Asantehene asked them to support the World Bank's new initiatives to build partnerships between governments and traditional leaders. He elaborated his own vision for the new role of chiefs in nation-building and invited NGOs to expand their areas of operation in Ghana in general and Asanteman in particular.
Most of the 16 NGOs represented at the round-table expressed interest in Otumfuo's projects in capacity building, health, education, and environment. Otumfuo Osei Tutu later in the afternoon was the Keynote Speaker at the Business Forum of the Netherlands African Business Council (NABC).
Speaking on the theme: "Doing Business In Ghana", Otumfuo elaborated on the operations of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), the various benefits and guarantees available to investors and advised that in order to avoid some of the frustrations encountered by investors they should learn more about Ghana and also about their own partners.
"We should learn to remove obstacles before we advance in any ventures", he told the Dutch business community. Later in the afternoon, Otumfuo and his wife Lady Julia were given an hour and a half private audience at the Palais Huis Ten Bosch with her Majesty the Queen of the Netherlands. Otumfuo's official visit has received considerable press coverage in the Netherlands.
GRi…/
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The Hague (Netherlands) 19 June 2002 - Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, Asantehene, has called on non-governmental bodies and the business community in the Netherlands to support his initiatives in the educational and health sectors.
In a statement read on his behalf by Nana Osei Manhyia, Manwerehene, at a Press conference in the Hague, Otumfuo indicated that he would use the occasion of his official visit to highlight the major challenges facing 'our people at home.' “If indeed we all live in a global village, then it is important that we share the concerns of each other."
Otumfuo Osei Tutu, who is on a week-long official visit to the Netherlands at the invitation of Queen Beatrix and the government of the Netherlands, stated that chieftaincy in Africa had taken a positive turn in Ghana and other parts of Africa. “We are determined that traditional leadership should be a progressive partner to central government in bringing development to our communities,” he underlined.
The Asantehene arrived yesterday morning at Schipol Airport, near Amsterdam, at the head of an 18-member delegation, which included Nana Kwadwo Nyarko, Pranghene (Brong Ahafo Region), Nana Agyeman Atwereboanda, Hiahene, Nana Osei Manhyia, Manwerehene, Dr Sir Kwame Donkoh-Fordwuor and Dr Lovelace Prempeh, both members of the Board of the Golden Development Holding Company.
He was met on arrival by a delegation from the Dutch Foreign Ministry led by Mr Roeland Van Der Geer, Director of Africa Department and officials of the Ghana Embassy led by Dr Mrs. Grace Amponsah-Ababio, Ghana's Amabassador to the Netherlands. Before the Press conference, Otumfuo was invited to play golf with some top management staff of Heineken.
Otumfuo would begin his working programme tomorrow with a meeting at the Dutch Foreign Affairs Ministry and an address at a roundtable conference hosted by the Ministry on the theme 'Development Opportunities in Ghana'. Later in the day, Otumfuo will be the keynote speaker at a Business Forum hosted by the Netherlands-Africa Business Council before he holds audience at the Palace Huis Ten Bosch with Her Majesty, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands.
GRi../
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Amsterdam (Holland) 18 June 2002 - Otumfour Osei Tutu II, Asantehene arrived this morning at the Amsterdam Schiphol Airport in The Netherlands for a week long official visit.
He was met on arrival by Her Excellency Ghana’s Ambassador to the Netherlands, Dr. Mrs. Grace Amponsah-Ababio, officials of the Embassy, Mr. Van der Geer, Director of Sub-Sahara Africa of the Dutch Ministry of foreign affairs, Mr. Arend Huitzing, Project Director of the Ghana Netherlands 300 years activities & Mr. Kojo Yankah, (former Ashanti Regional Minister) Otumfour was accompanied by his wife Lady Julia, Nana Hiahene, Dr. Donkor Forjuor and other dignitaries from the Manhyia palace.
Otumfour’s visit forms part of the activities marking the 300-years diplomatic relations between Ghana and The Netherlands. The Dutch part of the tercentenary activities will officially be closed during this visit. He was later welcomed traditionally by a representative of the Ghanaian community in Amsterdam at his hotel.
During his visit, Otumfour will meet Her Majesty, Queen Beatrice of The Netherlands; engage in business & development activities with both governmental & non-governmental institutions. He will also visit the Royal Tropical Museum where an impressive Manhyia Palace has been built amidst performances by the National Dance Company of Ghana.
On Saturday 22nd of June Otumfour will meet Ghanaians during
a Grand Durbar in Amsterdam. Ghanaians all over Europe are expected to arrive
during this week to participate in this historic visit. Sankofa Television, a
Ghanaian television based in Amsterdam has officially been requested to cover
activities during the visit. - Sankofa
TV Amsterdam
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