President receives France’s highest award
France has bestowed its highest national honour of merit on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
The National Order of the Legion of Honour (Ordre National de la Légion d’Honneur) was conferred on the President at a ceremony at the French Presidency, Elysee, in Paris, France, yesterday.
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The President of France, Emmanuel Macron, personally decorated President Akufo-Addo with the Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour (Grand Officier de la Légion d’Honneur) medal at the ceremony.
The National Order of the Legion of Honour is the highest honour of merit given by France to individuals who have provided exceptional services to France or defended causes and ideals that France supports, such as democracy, human rights, press freedom and humanitarian services.
The award was established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802, and has been preserved by all French governments since the 19th century.
The Order is divided into five categories, namely the Grand Cross (Grand-Croix), the Grand Officer (Grand Officier), the Commander (Commandeur), Officer (Officier) and Knight (Chevalier), with the Grand Cross being the highest category and the Knight being the lowest.
The French President is the Grand Master of the Order and confers the orders on deserving dignitaries.
Previous awardees of the honour include the former German Chancellor, Angela Merkel; former President of the Swiss Confederation, Pascal Couchepin; Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former Italian Prime Minister, Massimo d’Alema, and the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin.
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Conferring the award on President Akufo-Addo, President Macron lauded the Ghanaian leader’s commitment to democracy and human rights, as well as his role in strengthening the diplomatic ties between Ghana and France.
President Akufo-Addo was on a day’s State visit to France, where he held bilateral talks with Mr Macron.
He also spoke at an event organised by France Volontaires, the French platform for international volunteering, and a high-level event organised by UNESCO in honour of the first African Director-General of UNESCO, Amadou Mahtar-M’Bow.