The Vice President of Ghana Alhaji Aliu Mahama praised the relations between Ghana and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia which began more than 50 years ago, appraising the efforts exerted by the Kingdom to serve the development and peace in the world as well as to provide humanitarian assistance to the needy throughout the world. The Vice President's comments came during receiving the Saudi Ambassador to Ghana Samir Mahmoud Al-Aqad and the team supervising the process of distributing aid provided by the Saudi government to those affected by drought and poverty in the Sahel countries. "The relation began between Saudi Arabia and Ghana 50 years ago, and it is good and developing," Mahama said. He also conveyed thanks of the President of Ghana John Agyekum to the Saudi leadership. Mahama expressed appreciation and gratitude for the efforts exerted by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz to serve the Islamic nation by seeking reconciliation and stopping bloodshed between Muslims in addition to achieving just and comprehensive peace for the good of the peoples. On his part, Al-Aqad said that in implementation of the directives of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques to provide in-kind assistance valued at $ 13 million to the Sahel countries through the World Food Program of which one million dollars is allocated to Ghana, a supervision team accompanied by a media delegation had arrived and toured the refugee centers in Petrie /Baid Yom/, which include more than 38,000 refugees of different nationalities and where Saudi humanitarian aid was distributed. The Head of the Supervision Team Ibrahim Al-Draiweesh said that the assistance came in the framework of implementing the directives of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques to provide assistance to the Sahel countries of which one million dollars were allocated to Ghana. "More than 10,000 refugees will benefit from this aid; and the quantity of aid is 1319 tons of various food items," he added.
