President Mills invited to investiture of Ouattara

Ivorian President-Elect Mr Alassane Ouatara on Monday officially invited Ghana’s President John Evans Atta Mills to his coronation scheduled for May 21.

Ivorian Prime Minister Guillaume Soro delivered the message at a close door meeting with the Ghanaian President, at the Osu Castle in Accra.

Sources close to the Office of the President said Prime Minister Soro, who led a delegation to present the message to President Mills also briefed him on the security situation in the Ivory Coast after the capture of the beleaguered former leader Laurent Gbagbo last month.

According to the source, Mr Soro extended Mr Ouattara’s appreciation and greetings to President Atta Mills.

Immediate past President Gbagbo had refused to relinquish power after his apparent defeat in the last November Ivorian polls and the ECOWAS sub-regional group agreed to use military force to get him out.

President Mills personally advocated dialogue as the best means to end the crisis.

Mr Soro told journalists later that Ivory Coast, which is Ghana’s neighbour, had always appreciated the position of President Mills.

The source quoted President Mills as saying that the two neighbouring countries were sisters and whatever happened in Ivory Coast affected those in Ghana.

“We will never want to see anything go wrong in Cote d’Ivoire because its implication for us is enormous,” the President said and assured President Ouattara that Ghana would continue to offer him the necessary help to restore the country to normalcy.

Source: GNA