A duty tour with fond memories — Ambassador
Farewells are normally not very pleasant but sometimes when a mission has been adequately accomplished, one is able to say goodbye with smiles, not with the usual tears.
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This must sum up the feeling of the outgoing United States Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Gene A. Cretz, after a fulfilling three-year duty tour.
In his last encounter with the press in Ghana, he looked back to what he had been able to achieve as his country’s representative. “My wife and I enjoyed our time here, and we will be able to look back on these three years with fond memories because of the warm hospitality, partnerships and accomplishments we have witnessed,” he said.
In his brief address, he said he believed he had represented his country and its people very well and had made worthy contributions to Ghana.
“As I said before to President Mahama—and as I will again to you now — I think that during these three years that we have worked together, we have done some very good things for the people of Ghana. I think that when we look at any sector, whether it is education, health, trade, human rights or military cooperation, we see a strengthened bond between our two nations,” he recounted.
Education
In the area of education, Mr Cretz stated with pride that under his watch, the United States had undertaken projects such as the construction or rehabilitation of 250 schools, offered scholarships to boys and girls, engaged in the training of teachers and the improvement of basic education “because it paves a way towards an even bigger and brighter future for Ghana.”
“Just last week, I was delighted to launch the USAID Partnership for Education Learning Activity, which will benefit an estimated 2.8 million Ghanaian children.
We strongly believe this US$71 million investment will equip young people with the basics to learn to read – and read to learn- ultimately helping to improve the quality of education,” he stated when he met some Ghanaian journalists at the US embassy in Accra on June 23, 2015.
He also said that through President Obama’s landmark Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI), the United States had expanded the skills and networks of young African leaders to spur growth and prosperity, strengthen democratic governance and enhance peace and security across Africa. “These individuals are ambitious change makers, and I encourage you in the media to provide them with the needed exposure to help them attain their goals,” he told the journalists.
Health and Food Security
Mr Cretz believes that it is the US’s partnership with the government of Ghana that has largely accounted for the drastic reduction in the impact of malaria in rural Ghana. That collaboration and additional nutritional programmes, he affirms, have caused a substantial reduction in the mortality rate among children under the age of five.
Positing that food security is an issue that is vital for the survival and good health of Ghanaians, he noted that agricultural growth has been the major driver of poverty reduction in Ghana.
He listed some of the projects initiated by the US government as the Feed the Future Initiative, which has focused on aiding Northern Farmers to increase production, utilise resources more efficiently and bring their produce to the market so that it can in turn benefit the rest of the country.
“And we have partnered with experts at the universities of Cape Coast and Rhode Island to launch two new projects aimed at rebuilding marine fisheries stocks. Through these programmes we will ensure that fish, a healthy protein–rich staple in the Ghanaian diet, remains a flourishing resource for years to come,” he stated.
Trade
In terms of trade and direct economic assistance, Mr Cretz is proud of the efforts of the West Africa Trade Hub to increase the production of cereals, mango, shea, cashew and apparel production and to assist Ghanaians to export their products.
He listed American companies in Ghana like Caterpillar and Cummins, which over the past three years, have continued to contribute to the development and construction of Ghana’s infrastructure, while iconic U.S. companies such as Hess, Kosmos, Halliburton and others are partnering with Ghana to help take advantage of the abundant offshore petroleum reserves that will fuel economic growth in the coming years. To him, that is a sign that success is being chalked up in building bridges between American and Ghanaian companies and that these relationships are prospering.
“During my tenure here, we have had five trade missions, two cabinet level visits and visits from several members of Congress. Last week, the United States Secretary of Transportation, Anthony Foxx, travelled to Ghana in order to sign a letter of intent with the Minister of Transport.
The point of this endeavour is to strengthen collaboration and training at the newly constructed Ghana Aviation Academy, which will be a source of pride for the country and a world class centre for the Aviation industry in Africa,” he stated with a sense of accomplishment.
Mr Cretz also disclosed that in terms of infrastructure, he had been able to guide the implementation of President Obama’s Power Africa Initiative – in which Ghana and five other countries were selected to participate. He said the stage had been set for great progress, through the signing of the second compact between the Millennium Challenge Corporation and the Ghana government, which will transform the power sector through a $498 million investment.
Security
The outgoing US Ambassador said the U.S. Embassy was working alongside Ghana in the area of security and had hosted several bilateral and regional military training exercises and enhanced operations capacity. Paired with this has been the effort to create a rapid response capability for Ghana to participate in African peacekeeping efforts, he stated .
Saying that the two countries were also working closely to combat the scourge of human trafficking, he disclosed the signing of the first-ever bilateral Child Protection Compact Partnership with Ghana.
For the partnership, the United States will provide US$5m over five years to help Ghana prevent child trafficking and prosecute traffickers of children, as well as provide protection for the victims.
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He also informed the media about the recent initiation of a project to build the capacity of Ghana’s prosecutors so they are better prepared to successfully conclude cases involving drug trafficking, human trafficking and money laundering.
With all the partnerships and projects initiated during his tenure, Mr Cretz is confident that even though he is leaving, it will not impact the US-Ghana relations, “for they have been solidly built on a foundation of shared values and mutual respect.”
Full of praise for the country he had served, Mr Cretz stated that Ghana’s long-standing democracy and stability deserved commendation.
“I am proud to have been called to this post to serve both my country and to work with the people of Ghana. Considering that this is my final assignment as a diplomat, I could not have chosen or been chosen for an assignment that was more satisfying and gratifying than has been my time in Ghana.
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This post, more than any other I have served in, exemplifies how US assistance can be catalytic in changing and saving lives. I will forever be touched, having seen the results of the embassy’s efforts to this end,” he stated.
Career Senior Foreign Service Officer Mr Cretz was nominated by President Barack Obama on April 11, 2012 to be the Ambassador of the United States to Ghana. His appointment was confirmed by the Senate on August 2, 2012 and he was sworn-in by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on September 11, 2012, after which he took office in Ghana.