We won’t accept such insults – Prez tells Donald Trump

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has condemned the remarks made by United States (US) President Donald Trump that the African continent, Haiti and El Salvador are ‘shithole’ countries.

Responding to President Trump’s alleged remarks in a tweet, the President said Ghana was certainly not a ‘shithole’ country and that "we will not accept such insults, even from a leader of a friendly country, no matter how powerful".

He described the US President’s language as extremely unfortunate.

US Embassy

Meanwhile, the United States Embassy in Accra has said the US has great respect for the people on the African continent.

According to the embassy, the commitment of US to African countries would continue to remain stronger.

The US government has suffered a backlash from most African countries over the ‘shithole’ comment by US President Trump.

President Trump

Mr Trump is reported to have described El Salvador, Haiti and certain African nations as ‘shithole’ countries during a meeting with lawmakers at the White House last Thursday.

“Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?” he asked, after being presented with a proposal to restore protection for immigrants from those countries as part of a bipartisan immigration deal.

The Washington Post reported the remarks, citing aides briefed on the meeting.

Trump demanded to know why the US would accept immigrants from those countries rather than places such as Norway, whose Prime Minister he had met the day before.

He has received international condemnation for his comment, but is said to have denied making such remarks.

The US Embassy, in a tweet last Saturday, stated: “We have great respect for the people of Africa. Our commitment to Ghana and all our African partners remains strong. It’s an honour for our staff to serve here alongside Ghanaians and we deeply value our relationship.”

African Union (AU) Group

In a related development, the AU Group of Ambassadors to the UN has said it is extremely appalled by the outrageous, racist and xenophobic remarks attributed to President Trump that seeks to berate African countries.

The group has demanded a retraction and apology, saying it is concerned by the growing trend from the US administration towards Africa and people of African descent to denigrate the continent and people of colour.

While expressing solidarity with the people of Haiti and others that had been similarly denigrated, the group reiterated statements issued by a number of African countries condemning the remarks by the US President.

The AU Group reaffirmed its commitment to the values and principles of multilateralism, diversity and equality of nations as enshrined in relevant AU and UN charters and instruments.