The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has received the Open Letters of Lebanon’s Ambassador-designate to Ghana,Fouad Khazzaka, at a special ceremony held at the ministry in Accra.
He replaces the former Lebanese ambassador, Maher Kheir, who completed a distinguished diplomatic tenure in Ghana during which he served as Dean of the Diplomatic Corps.
During the ceremony, Mr. Ablakwa underscored the longstanding bilateral relations between Ghana and Lebanon, highlighting decades of diplomatic cooperation reinforced by Ghana’s contribution to international peacekeeping efforts in Lebanon. Ghana remains one of the longest-serving troop-contributing countries to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), having maintained a military presence in the country since 1978.
The Foreign Affairs Minister praised the significant contributions of the Lebanese community in Ghana to national development, commending its role in job creation, industrial growth and investment. He lauded Lebanese entrepreneurs for their innovation and business expertise, particularly in the areas of construction, manufacturing, trade and the pharmaceutical industry, while calling for deeper economic cooperation between the two countries.
Mr. Ablakwa further expressed Ghana’s interest in expanding knowledge and technology exchange with Lebanon, especially in the manufacturing, construction materials and pharmaceutical sectors, which have become hallmarks of Lebanese enterprise.
Touching on security cooperation, the minister condemned the recent attacks that injured three Ghanaian peacekeepers serving under UNIFIL in southern Lebanon amid escalating hostilities along the Israel-Lebanon border. Ghana has since formally protested the incident to the United Nations and noted that investigations into the circumstances surrounding the attack were ongoing.
Since joining UNIFIL in 1978, Ghanaian troops have distinguished themselves through both operational and humanitarian activities. Their responsibilities have included conducting patrols along the Blue Line, the UN-demarcated boundary separating Lebanon and Israel, supporting local communities through medical outreaches and social interventions, and strengthening the capacity of the Lebanese Armed Forces and other state institutions.
Ghana’s Bravo Company, deployed in southern Lebanon as part of UNIFIL’s peacekeeping contingent, operates in areas that have witnessed repeated exchanges of fire between Israeli forces and armed groups in recent years. The Blue Line has remained a flashpoint since hostilities intensified following the outbreak of the Gaza conflict in October 2023, with UN peacekeepers repeatedly calling on all parties to respect international law and guarantee the safety of peacekeeping personnel.
For his part, Ambassador-designate Fouad Khazzaka expressed gratitude to the Ghanaian government for the warm reception and congratulated Ghana for championing the United Nations General Assembly resolution recognising the transatlantic slave trade and slavery as crimes against humanity.
He reaffirmed Lebanon’s commitment to strengthening bilateral relations and pledged to deepen cooperation in education by increasing scholarship opportunities for Ghanaian students seeking higher education in Lebanon.
The Lebanese Embassy has, for more than a decade, invested in Ghana’s human capital through scholarship programmes offered to students from institutions including the University of Ghana and the University of Media, Arts and Communication benefitting over 6,000 Ghanaian students from undergraduate and postgraduate scholarships over 12 years.
Beyond education, the two countries have also intensified cooperation in the area of security. Recent engagements between Lebanese authorities and Ghana’s Ministry of the Interior have focused on enhancing collaboration in combating transnational crimes, including cybercrime, drug trafficking, money laundering and other cross-border security threats.
Contributor: Nana Kofi Twum-Ampofo Nerrose
Related Posts
