By Edward Acquah
Accra, Sept. 12, GNA – Ghana must build on the existing friendship established with King Charles III to strengthen the country’s relationship with the United Kingdom in the new era, Retired Diplomat Kwabena Baah-Duodo has said.
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, Mr Baah-Duodo, a former Ambassador of Ghana to Switzerland and Austria, said the new King “has a sympathetic ear” to Ghana and “knows the country.”
He said the commencement of a new era in the UK’s monarchical leadership following the passing of Queen Elizabeth II required Ghana to consider things that were in the interest of its people and build on them.
Mr Baah-Duodo, who is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations Ghana, said the country must “have the confidence” to share ideas with Britain and ensure that whatever assistance it received from Britain were used for the specific purpose.
“We should not rest that he (King Charles) is sympathetic to Ghana so things will prevail. After all, it is the Government of the day which has the major say.
“…UK is a prominent member of the Commonwealth and the United Nations which we belong so we need to have good relations with them,” Mr Baah-Duodo said.
He added: “having good relations with another country doesn’t mean that you have to forgo your own national interest.”
King Charles III was formally proclaimed the UK’s monarch on Saturday, September 10, 2022, following the demise of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, last Thursday.
Since the Queen died at Balmoral, Scotland on Thursday, thousands of mourners have laid flowers and tributes at places she lived, including Buckingham Palace, Sandringham House and Windsor Castle, the BBC reports.
Britain is expected to hold a national moment of reflection – a one minute silence on September 18, 2022 ahead of the late queen’s funeral on Monday.
Mr Baah-Duodo extoled the exemplary leadership of Queen Elizabeth at the Commonwealth, which he said, attracted countries that had no colonial ties with Britain, including Rwanda to join the bloc.
“She (The Queen) was a leader who helped the Commonwealth to transform or members of the Commonwealth to feel their relationship with Britain not in term of colonial relationship but equal partners that can help each other,” he said.
Mr Baah-Duodo urged leaders in the Commonwealth to “learn from The Queen” and serve their countries honestly and diligently.
King Charles III, then Prince Charles, last set foot in Ghana in November 2018 together with his wife Camilla, the then Duchess of Cornwall, for a five-day state visit.
During his visit, he King Charles III and President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo attended a ceremony at the Christianborg War Cemetery (War Cemetery) to honour the fallen heroes of the First and Second World War.
King Charles III first visited Ghana in 1977 as a 29-year-old man.
GNA