NEW PRESIDENT OF PMAWCA- HANDING OVER CEREMONY 2022

This day, 16th of December 2022, witnessed the handing over ceremony of the Chairmanship of PMAWCA from Ghana to Gabon, id est from Ghana Ports and Harbour Authority (GPHA) to ‘Office des Ports et Rades du Gabon’ (OPRAG).

This rotates after every two Council years, term of office for the position.
This ceremony should have been held in Luanda during the 42nd Council but challenges of matching timetables of some key players wouldn’t permit it. It was therefore postponed to this period at the PMAWCA headquarters.
The ceremony which began at exactly 11am as planned, was chaired by the Managing Director of the Nigerian Port Authority, Mr Mohammed Bello-Koko who is the first Vice President of the Association and flag bearer of the Host Country of PMAWCA Headquarters, Nigeria.
Mr. Mohammed Bello-Koko welcomed the Ghanian and Gabonese delegations to Nigeria and reassured PMAWCA of Nigeria’s continued unwavering support to the Association.

The outgoing president, Mr. Michael Luguje who is the current Vice President of IAPH – Africa Zone, was given the stage for his speech for the occasion and he began by giving a resume of some of the progress made by PMAWCA during his term of office which in effect contributed greatly to earn the Association a respectable place in inter-ports cooperation in Africa and in the World. He went further to thank NPA and the Nigerian authorities for their prodigious support to the Association through past and present Managing Directors. After acknowledging the serious work of the Secretary-General and his staff, he encouraged the incoming president to continue leading the way toward that kind of progress. Mr. Luguje didn’t fail to spell out some current challenges of the Association that the incoming president might need to address urgently including the issue of the Cotonou Training Center and implementing recent constitutional amendments.
After the handing over ritual which consisted of the signing of the handing over document, transmission of symbolic files and the PMAWCA flag, the new president of PMAWCA, Mr. Godwin ALINI YANDJANGOYE who is the present DG of OPRAG took the floor for his acceptance speech. The new president thanked the predecessor for his unique impact on the life of the Association first as Secretary General then as President and for his undaunting leadership during the Covid 19 Pandemic. He promised PMAWCA through the Secretariat and the MD of NPA present, to move PMAWCA to greater heights, capitalizing on the achievements of the outgoing President and leading the way to find innovative solutions to the current challenges of the Association.
Some pictures were taken and a lunch was offered at the Secretary General’s residence.