President John Dramani Mahama has begun a four-day official state visit to Jamaica, with a packed programme focused on strengthening trade and investment, advancing the reparations agenda, and deepening the historic cultural ties between Ghana and the Caribbean nation.
President Mahama arrived in Kingston on Sunday night and was received with official honours at the Norman Manley International Airport by senior Jamaican government officials led by Ambassador Sandra Grant Griffiths, Chief of State Protocol at the Office of the Prime Minister, and Ghana’s High Commissioner to Jamaica, H.E. Kofi Attor.
Also present to welcome the President were Jamaica’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator the Honourable Kamina Johnson Smith; Permanent Secretary and Head of the Foreign Service, Ambassador Sheila Sealy Monteith; Jamaica’s Non-Resident High Commissioner to Ghana, H.E. Lincoln Downer; and other senior government officials.
The President is accompanied by a high-level Ghanaian delegation, including Minister for Foreign Affairs Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Deputy Minister for Defence Ernest Brogya Genfi, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ambassador Khadija Iddrisu, and senior officials from Ghana’s diplomatic mission in Jamaica.
The August 2–5 visit is expected to strengthen the longstanding relationship between Ghana and Jamaica while expanding cooperation between Ghana and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in key areas such as trade, investment, culture, education and economic development.
A major highlight of the visit will be President Mahama’s participation in a high-level Reparations Dialogue at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona Campus. He will join Sir Hilary Beckles, Vice-Chancellor of UWI and Chairman of the CARICOM Reparations Commission, to discuss strategies for advancing the campaign for reparations for the transatlantic slave trade and addressing its enduring impact on African and Caribbean peoples.
As part of efforts to celebrate the shared Pan-African heritage of both nations, President Mahama will lay a wreath at the shrine of Jamaica’s National Hero, Marcus Mosiah Garvey, at the National Heroes Park. He will also visit Seville Heritage Park in St. Ann, where he will tour the preserved Ghanaian Village Houses that stand as a lasting symbol of the historical and ancestral links between Ghana and Jamaica.
The President is also expected to hold bilateral talks with Jamaican Prime Minister Dr. Andrew Holness and other senior government officials to explore new opportunities for cooperation in trade, investment, tourism, culture and broader South-South collaboration.
Another key engagement will see President Mahama address a joint sitting of Jamaica’s Houses of Parliament, where he is expected to outline Ghana’s vision for closer Africa-Caribbean relations and stronger collaboration on issues of mutual interest.
His itinerary also includes a Trade and Investment Dialogue, a tour of the Kingston Freeport, a courtesy call on Opposition Leader Mark Golding, participation in the “Mello-Go-Roun” celebrations marking Jamaica’s 64th Independence Anniversary, and a State Dinner hosted by Governor-General Sir Patrick Allen and Lady Allen.
