Ghana president welcomed in Salt Lake City
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The President of the Republic of Ghana, John A. Kufuor, met with the First Presidency during a visit to Salt Lake City Sept. 17— expressing appreciation for the Church's humanitarian and religious contributions to his nation.
"We consider you as part of Ghana," he told President Gordon B. Hinckley, President Thomas S. Monson and President James E. Faust.
Visiting the United States to attend United Nations General Assembly meetings, President Kufuor traveled to Utah to talk to government leaders about economic development and to meet with Church leadership and expand his knowledge of the organization.
The Church has five stakes and an estimated 22,000 members in Ghana, where a temple, stake center, area office building and temple patron housing complex are under construction. The first official missionaries arrived in West Africa in August 1978.
"I felt President Kufuor was very impressed with both the leadership and the way he was greeted," said Elder H. Bruce Stucki of the Seventy and former president of the Africa West Area who accompanied the West African leader to the meeting and other Church sites.
President Kufuor toured Welfare Square and visited the Church's Conference Center, in addition to meeting with local government and business leaders.
Elder Stucki said President Kufuor is aware of the Church's humanitarian efforts and employment services in his country, and expressed appreciation to the First Presidency.
In return, President Hinckley invited President Kufuor to the open house of the Accra Ghana Temple — scheduled to be completed in the Fall of 2003. He thanked President Kufuor for his cooperation in helping the Church fulfill its role in providing religious and humanitarian services to the people of Ghana.
"It was a very mutually beneficial visit, as well as an opportunity to express thanks and appreciation," said Elder Stucki.
During the past 15 years, the Church has sponsored 142 humanitarian projects in Ghana, valued at 7.5 million U.S. dollars. Those projects have included donations of books to libraries, medical schools and orphanages. The Church has provided vocational training and operated a specialized computer training center that has facilitated employment for more than 1,000 people. Many large containers of medical supplies have been donated. Clean water has been made available through the digging and refurbishing of wells.
At Welfare Square, President Kufuor, accompanied by several top aides, was impressed with the cleanliness and effectiveness of the Church's facilities, said Elder Stucki.
"They found it overwhelming to believe we have a number of these facilities around the world — including one in Ghana," he said.
E-mail: sarah@desnews.com
