Exclusive with British High Commission - AM Show on Joy News (14-9-21)

[Music] right here on the am show we're continuing our conversation or we're starting another conversation has to do with my interview with harriet thompson the first female high communique high commissioner to ghana she's been speaking about a number of things and we're going to have that conversation with her in every so do stay tuned in this is still the am show hello hi nice to see you nice to see you thank you and thank you too so well this is where we take off our masks so yeah it's um we're in a pandemic and so we have to keep our mask on all the time but yes for an interview like this where we're outdoors and there's a lot of breeze and we're socially distanced it's okay to take off the mask so yes we can get into the conversation straight away you're welcome thank you um your excellency harriet thompson the bridge high commissioner to ghana but you're not just ghana it's it's ghana in a number of other west african countries that's right yeah i'll be non-resident ambassador also to togo benin and burkina faso all right so you have been in ghana for a few months now what's what's it been like for you such a warm welcome it's been lovely really lovely my family are here with me now they're also feeling very happily settled it's been great getting to know a few people all of the conversations i've had give me absolute confidence that we're going to have a great time here as a family but also that there's loads of good stuff that the uk and ghana can continue doing together well yeah and maybe on behalf of ghanians i want to welcome you to yeah i love african fabrics it's a bit of a weakness i'm afraid ah all right so i'm i'm happy you're enjoying your your stay so far you were previously posted to nigeria where you were deputy high commissioner in abuja and then lagos i want to understand how the system works in nigeria because here in ghana we just have the accra the high commission based in the crowd but in nigeria you have two yeah that's right because nigeria is such a big country we have what's called our sovereign post our main post in the capital abuja but we also we also have some subordinate missions so the deputy high commission in lagos is the biggest of those but we have another four offices across the country as well so i was the deputy high commissioner and deputy head of mission in abuja and then moved down to lagos and was the head of that subordinate post okay so you've been in ghana for a few months have you tried any of your foods here i have i have kelly is my all-time favorite so far delicious okay delicious but it's quite spicy yeah that's good though that's cool you're okay not too much spice but yeah spicy is nice okay i i wouldn't get into um the conversations about jollof but i don't mind if you want to talk about your love and delicious talk about old versions are delicious apart from my own i should say in between the time in nigeria and in ghana we were back in the uk for about a year and i tried to cook jollof rice okay on a few occasions for my kids and each time i tried a different recipe and each time they said no so it turns out that all your life is good apart from my job offer okay you're trying to be diplomatic here is that what you're trying to do so that you don't there's no way no way i'm coming out and the question that you want me to come back you don't want to talk about diplomatic wars no way no way all varieties are good apart from my own okay that's as well that's a smart way to go about it but yeah i'm sure that people will be wondering okay she's been in ghana she has to be you know tell us about your love it's like we like to be told that our jollof is not it's very nice it's very nice i enjoy it very much yeah but you're not going to get into the war no way between them how about nigeria love very nice too [Laughter] i can't get you i can get you anyway what um have you always been a diplomat or you got into it at some point in your career no i wasn't always a diplomat um when i left university i decided not to join the diplomatic service because i didn't like the idea of moving on i'm very bad at saying goodbyes so i joined as a regular civil servant i've worked in six different government departments covering a huge range of areas trade policy organized crime climate energy real range i've worked for the foreign office previously a long time ago at our permanent representation to the eu where i worked on trade policy and then the next posting was in nigeria the range of experience that i've had across the uk civil service is really good for a posting like this because the breadth of our relationship with ghana is so wide um having done a little bit of a lot of things puts me in quite a good position okay so but what did you want to be growing up uh the one thing i knew growing up is that i wanted to travel i wanted to see the world so i had various things on my list that i thought would get me to that aim so pilot was up there i also wanted to be a pilot yeah i then realized that i'm actually not that fond of taking off or landing so pilot would not be a good choice for me diplomat is a much better position yeah and indeed i'm sure you've seen the world how many countries um so i've only worked in nigeria brussels and ghana for the foreign office i've also worked in sierra leone but not as a civil servant that was for an ngo on secondment but yeah i've been lucky enough to visit a lot of different countries chinese was part of my degree so i was lucky enough to spend some time in china and see parts of asia while i was there okay so you're the first female high commissioner to ghana what does it feel like to be the first one and uh how are you going to use that role to inspire this i mean it's a great privilege to do this job to be the person who's been chosen to represent the uk in a country that's as important to us as ghana is is a huge privilege and it feels extra special to be the first woman in this role i'm not alone there were a lot of senior women diplomats in accra i'm glad that the uk has now joined that group but yeah i really want to make the most of it while i'm here so not only having conversations with my own colleagues both here in accra and across the the fcdo network worldwide but also seeing what i can do to persuade young women in ghana that they can do whatever they want to do there really needs to be no limit okay and you what is your ambition for ghana during your tenure because uh ian he introduced the ghana grant as a way to engage with so many people and at different levels are you also thinking about a campaign to engage ghana so not a bike ride i enjoy cycling but i'm not as professional as islands in that regard but certainly i want to get out across the country and one of the great opportunities in this role is being able to meet a wide variety of people so i really want to get under the skin of the country find out what makes people tick and what are the things that really matter to ghanaians it's often easier in the position that i'm in to engage with the big businesses rather than the smaller businesses the well-known people rather than their everyday people and i want to find a way to crack through that and get to know what what life is like for everybody in the country so i will be out and about a lot i will be looking for different ways to talk to all sorts of different people hope to use food as a way into that the arts uh fashion yeah looking forward to getting to know the club have you seen any places yet so far no around the country sadly i visited a few years ago while i was based in nigeria with family and we visited cape coast castle but that's as far as i've got so now that i've presented credentials i'm very much looking forward to getting out and about let's talk about football a bit i mean the the english are passionate about their football do you have a favorite liverpool is our family team yeah not a popular one in ghana i don't think you seem to be more tottenham hotspur liverpool is also quite popular oh good oh yeah it's good i mean the this is popular too yeah and chelsea's also popular the blue that's you is it aha i should have worn some red but that's okay so the uk and ghana's partnership keeps evolving with every high commissioner ian walker he was focused on business trade and economic opportunities aligning both countries ambition for a greater partnership what will be your focus for the next phase of this relationship so i wouldn't expect any major change there'll be a lot of continuity i think people in my position make a mistake if they think that it's all about them it's not i'm here in order to deliver on a long-term strategy for the ghana uk partnership so economics trade our investment relationship they will continue to be really high priorities those are the things that will create jobs that will bring prosperity to ghana and that's good for ghana it's good for the uk as well so there'll be a lot more around that i really want to champion ghana's role in the region i know that security is a priority for this government and it's a priority for us as well so i'm pleased that we've started a security dialogue with ghana we've had a major general from the uk in town this week for army staff talks so there are lots of things i think we can do in that space to bolster ghana's role as a leader in the region all right so you're talking about the the recent trip by the uk's minister for africa um to strengthen the uk ghana security and trade partnership the 250 000 pound additional funding has been provided to support ghana security can you explain how it's going to trickle down to uh the rest of the population yeah so we'll be using that money in different ways a lot of it is looking at how we can support ghana to be ready should there be some sort of crisis a terrorist crisis for example so we're looking at the training that goes around that helping the various parts of government that need to be part of the response to work together we'll be looking at supporting for a live exercise later in the year so lots of things around that also the use the analysis of intelligence but it goes beyond that as well looking at some of the work that we're doing in the human development space recognizing that really to tackle security instability it's the human development those long-term drivers that we need to address people need jobs they need services able to access quality services where they live so what i want to do is bring all of that together okay now one thing on the minds of many ghanaians has to do with corruption and the fight against corruption there are those who don't believe that government or the state is doing enough to fight corruption and that people corrupt politicians and all sorts of people get away with their loot because the state is not clamping down on them is there a way that the uk government can support the fight against corruption so that ghanians can see those who have not been convinced about the fight against corruption can see something being done yeah so it's a really important point means of tackling corruption is a bit of a golden thread running through a lot of our activity here in ghana um areas that i would draw out would be the government's digitization agenda here in reducing the human to human contact and moving more government services online they're reducing the opportunities for corruption at low levels in the system at the higher levels it's so important for people to see that nobody is immune to prosecution if people steal money they will be prosecuted for stealing money so the work that we're doing around illicit financial flows and to counter money laundering is really important in that regard the uk does not want to be a destination for corrupt money and so it's important for people in ghana people across the world to know that if they try to hide their ill-gotten gains in the uk the uk's crime agencies will be looking for them so essentially the systems are there to detect people who would want to loan the such monies illicit monies and the system would deal with them yeah that's right absolutely right do you intend to [Music] call out people who engage you know are maybe seen to be engaged in corruption you know political leaders and and others during your tenure yeah where the evidence is clear then people need to know what's happening i would put a note of caution on these cases are notoriously difficult to prosecute building up the evidence is really hard especially when it involves complex chains of money one of the things that we're doing is helping the authorities in ghana to build up that expertise so that they're able to follow the money and work out who's implicated in a case and be able to build a compelling case against those people you indicated that yes when it comes to trying uh corrupt corruption cases it's very difficult but that's another problem that a lot of ghanaians have they don't think that the justice system is dealing as fairly with them as the issue the people who strongly believe that they have a case and they get into the justice system it's either they're delayed or they they get you know cases you know ruled against them when they think that they really had a strong strong case is there a way that the uk government again can support the justice system and to ensure that there's fairness and maybe just to add to that it's typically said in ghana that you'd have someone someone go steel maybe some bunch of a bunch of plantain or some farm produce just because they're hungry and they're caught and they handed down you know some really stringent sentences and yet we have politicians who have been found to have been corrupt and the system says refund the monies and they don't think people don't think that this is what you this certainly can't be fair yeah so the issue that you've just raised it brings up a good example of a way that uk has worked with ghana's judicial system we've worked with them to help develop sentencing guidelines so that there is less scope for that discrepancy between the crime and the guideline it takes the subjectivity out of it and there's a set of criteria that have to be followed while sentences are being handed down but i think that um it's really important that the judicial system is able to act independently objectively and without political or any other influence and on top of that it's important that people see that to be the case as well indeed and there's also the case of people who [Music] report cases to the police crimes to the police and we're not getting resolution it usually takes like forever for there to be resolutions to these crimes other systems or other programs that are uk funded programs that are supporting the police to become you know as sharp as uh with the scotland yeah for instance it's one of the things that we're looking at through our security dialogue so we've agreed that there should be closer cooperation in these areas and we're working with the various agencies in ghana to come up with a shared work programme so the first set of meetings towards that have happened already we hope to have an agreed plan by the end of the year so that we're really clear on how we can help to address the issues that really matter here what do you make of the recent coup in in guinea and the suspension of the country by echoes yeah so the uk government has joined echo us and the african union in condemning the coup it's clear that it's unconstitutional and we call for the president to be released and the constitution to be reinstituted as soon as possible but yes those who say well the ecuas and the other regional bodies they saw or they looked on as their president alfa conde overthrew the constitution which was illegal and got himself a third term and yet when there was another illegality they're condemning that illegality why didn't they condemn the first one you'd have to ask the ecowas members uh what i can say though as i think under president accrueforado's leadership now their strong condemnation and their suspension of guinea is in in the uk's opinion absolutely the right course of action and we we're fully supported and in in complete agreement with them on that okay so yes i may want to ask you know echo us about that but i would want to ask the uk because you also observed that the afro condition through the constitution yeah so i mean i think um it's very important constitutions are there for a reason uh the people need to see that their constitutions are being respected and the politicians need to know that the the procedures the rules that are set out in the constitution are there for them as much as they're there for everybody else especially when there seems to be some quite some support for the cool in in guinea because we're seeing you know videos viral videos of the junta leaders driving through the streets and being cheered on and so if you have an echo us or a uk coming to condemn the coup when the people themselves feel this is probably what we wanted you seem to be speaking at variance to what the people are so my interpretation of that is that the people are showing their dissatisfaction at the way that their democracy has been respected or not by their leaders i think it is a sign of the importance that people in this region attach to democracy i think that it's important for us to work together towards strengthening democracy the rule of law respect for what the people of a country want in thinking about how that country is governed let's talk about press freedom which is my area i'm a journalist and there seems to be what people call a culture of silence where people who seek to speak out or speak up about issues that offend the powers that be get you know they go after them and we've had instances where a journalist has been called out and threatened and next thing we know the person is dead and those who feel that if these things happen and we don't get resolution to them then it seems to be you know state support of impunity against in against journalists is there is that something that you have observed so media freedom has been and continues to be a priority for our governments and i'm really glad that we were able to bring a number of journalists over to the uk for a media freedom conference um the culture around media freedom in ghana is something that i still need to get under the skin of but absolutely it's important that when crimes are committed against journalists when journalists feel like they aren't able to speak up we've got to address those things because they're at the heart of a well-functioning healthy democracy if people aren't able to speak up about the things that matter to them then the democracy is in trouble and ghana is well known around the world for being an inclusive tolerant society where people are able to speak up so yes i'm looking forward to talking to you and others in your profession to find out more and to see what we can do all right and let's talk some trade the uk is the first country to sign an mu with after where what got you to do that and why we're taking why are you taking this relationship so we see the continental free trade area as a potential game changer for economies right the way across the continent of africa and frankly speaking we see benefit in the uk for that as well at the moment trade between african countries is much lower than you would expect when you look at trade between countries on the same other continent elsewhere in the world so there's huge potential for that to grow and for that to benefit the smallest companies right the way to the biggest companies we want to help in the realization of that potential and that's why we're really pleased to have signed this memorandum of understanding with the secretary actually okay now one of the things that the uk high commission has been famous for has to do with the chevening scholarship where you get you offer scholarships to ghanaians to go study in the in the uk how are you do you intend to expand it you intend to take it forward so that a lot more ghanians can can benefit because there are lots of people who would love to take advantage of that we certainly intend to take it forward and yes there are lots of ghanaians who want to benefit from that it's always heartwarming to see how many applications we get for this scheme each year we're able to offer about 20 scholarships to ghanaians which is it's a real benefit to ghana these are the cream of the crop it's a really competitive process that people go through to secure these scholarships and the expectation is that after people have benefited from a year's worth of world-class education in the uk they then come back and bring that learning to ghana for the benefit of the country it's always one of the highlights for me to meet these people you can see i'm smiling as i talk about it they're so clear on what they want to do why they want to pursue this study and what they want to do with it when they come back to ghana it's always a really energising experience meeting with them and talking with them finally let's end on a musical note we've talked about food we haven't talked about music have you sampled some of the songs that we have in in ghana i'm really enjoying ghanaian music yeah my kids and my husband and i can be caught dancing around the kitchen as we're getting food ready it's impossible to keep your feet still yeah okay and you're able to you know move quite well to the beat no no no this is why it's in my kitchen and not in public but any popular songs that you've picked up so far so one of my highlights um i don't know if you've seen on twitter we had a well-being day for our excellent high commission team yesterday and the comms team put together a super video with a music by soccer so that's a that's a current favorite at the moment okay so we're gonna look for that so it's supposed to be on social media handles right we're gonna look for that to to play but thank you very much uh your excellency for making time to speak with us and once again i want to warmly welcome you to ghana and i hope you enjoy your stay thank you very much nice to meet you

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Keywords: News, Latest News, headlines, News in Ghana, AM Newspaper Headlines, AM Ghana Political Issues, Ghana Politics, Matters Arising in Ghana, NPP, CPP, NDC, PPP, National Budget, Chieftaincy, Ghanaian lawyers, Economy, Constitution, Election, campaign, YouTube, AM Show, AM News, AM Talk

Id: j128COSHEx0

Length: 24min 32sec (1472 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 14 2021