The city of Kumasi and the German City of Dortmund are set to establish a sister-city relationship aimed at fostering international understanding and cooperation, as well as promoting economic development, tourism, and educational exchanges between the two cities and peoples.
The German Ambassador to Ghana, Daniel Krull, made this known on Wednesday, when he paid a courtesy call on the Chief Executive of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA), Samuel Pyne to finalise discussions on the two sister-city partnership agreement.
The German envoy who was visiting the Ashanti Regional capital for the first time, since his appointment as ambassador to Ghana in July, 2021, indicated that, he learnt there was a partnership agreement between the City of Dortmund in Germany and Kumasi in Ghana which needed to be strengthened, “hence my decision to meet the ‘Mayor’ of Kumasi.”
According to Mr Krull, the visit was to learn more about Kumasi and its socio-economic potentials which the City of Dortmund would stand to benefit from the partnership, stressing “we are here to reaffirm full and official partnership the City of Dortmund has with the City of Kumasi.”
According to the Ambassador, the visit was to learn more about Kumasi and its socio-economic potentials which the City of Dortmund would stand to benefit from the partnership, stressing “we are here to reaffirm full and official partnership the City of Dortmund has with the City of Kumasi.”
Mr Pyne, welcoming the delegation to Kumasi, applauded the German Ambassador and his entourage for the important visit, and indicated that, he was hopeful the official partnership would bring mutual benefits to the two cities in terms of education, health, agriculture, tourism and culture.
He said the KMA, looking at the volume of waste generated daily in Kumasi especially in the Central Business District and its effect on the environment, has bought into the idea of Climate Change and Greening Kumasi, of which Bloomberg Philanthropies were partners.
The ‘Mayor’ of Kumasi subsequently appealed for partnership between the Kumasi Technical University and other universities in Germany for collaboration and knowledge sharing.
He assured the German Ambassador of his maximum cooperation to ensure the success of the partnership and the sister-city relationship.
Prior to the visit to KMA, the entourage had earlier met with some alumni of KNUST who had the opportunity to study in Germany, and also visited the KCCR, Adonko Factory and Suame Magazine, where the German government was supporting some artisans in various skills.
The German Ambassador was accompanied by Mr Lutz Lienenkamper, a German State Member of Parliament (MP) and former Finance Minister for North-Rhine Westphalia; Mr Volkmar Klein, a German MP and a member of the Economic Cooperation and Development for German Parliament (Bundestag); and Prof. Ralph Nyadu-Addo, a former Head of the Department of Publishing Studies-Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).
FROM KINGSLEY E.HOPE, KUMASI
