The Government said this in a statement signed by Mr Mustapha Abdul Hamid, the Minister of Information, and copied to the Ghana News Agency on Tuesday. The statement said the Government had been monitoring events with regards to the election and had also noted with concern the refusal of entry to Kenya of Mr Peter Mac Manu, a Ghanaian citizen.

It said Mr Manu went to Kenya as Head of the Democratic Union of Africa’s Observer Mission and it was not the first time that he had acted in that capacity.  The statement said the Ghanaian Constitution guarantees every citizen of Ghana the freedom to participate in political activity inside or outside of the country, within the laws of Ghana or wherever they found themselves.

“They do so in their own capacity as free citizens of a free state, and not at the behest of the Government of Ghana,” it said. The statement said Ghana enjoyed strong diplomatic relations with Kenya and would continuously work to deepen this, as well as explore other areas of co-operation between the two countries to their mutual benefit, irrespective of the Government at the helm of affairs.

“We pray for a successful and credible election and hope that the winning candidate, at the end of the process, would receive the unalloyed support of all.    That is how Kenya can strengthen her democracy and the peace and stability of the nation,” it said.