By James Amoh Junior
Accra, Feb. 28, GNA – President John Dramani Mahama has outlined a bold foreign policy agenda anchored on regional stability, multilateral reform, diaspora engagement and improved consular services.
He declared that Ghana’s engagement with the world must be purposeful, strategic and responsive to the needs of its people.
The President, delivering the Message on the State of the Nation to the 9th Parliament in Accra, said Ghana’s foreign policy remained a central instrument for advancing national development, safeguarding sovereignty and projecting the country’s values globally.
He noted that amid geopolitical shifts, economic uncertainty, climate challenges and evolving security concerns within the sub-region, the Government had taken deliberate steps to align Ghana’s external relations with domestic development priorities through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
President Mahama reaffirmed Ghana’s commitment to good neighbourliness, solidarity and constructive cooperation, stressing the need to deepen engagement with member states of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) following their withdrawal from the Economic Community of West African States.
He said Ghana believed continued dialogue and cooperation were indispensable to regional stability and cautioned that disengagement could deepen vulnerabilities in an already fragile security environment.
At the continental level, the President highlighted Ghana’s active role within the African Union, noting that the country currently serves as AU Champion on Reparations, AU Champion for African Financial Institutions, and AU Champion for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment.
He expressed humility over Ghana’s election as First Vice Chairperson of the AU at its 39th Ordinary Session in Addis Ababa and disclosed that West African leaders had declared him the region’s sole candidate for the AU Chairperson position when the rotating chairmanship returns to West Africa in 2027.
On global governance, President Mahama recalled that at the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, he called for a comprehensive reset of the UN to better reflect current global realities, particularly Africa’s role in decision-making and fairness in international financial systems.
He announced that Ghana would formally table a resolution before the UN General Assembly in March seeking recognition of the Transatlantic Slave Trade as the greatest crime against humanity and promoting acknowledgement, reparative justice and cultural restitution.
The resolution, he said, had already been endorsed and adopted by the African Union.
The President reported significant progress in passport administration, including the establishment of seven new Passport Application Centres in the Upper East, Oti, Ahafo, Bono East, North East, Savannah and Western North Regions.
With the expansion, all 16 regional capitals now host passport application centres, marking what he described as a major milestone in the decentralisation of passport services .
To address systemic delays, the Ministry implemented a 24-hour passport production operation at its Head Office, enabling the clearance of an inherited backlog of more than 40,000 applications.
As a result, Ghana’s passport administration now operates with zero backlog, guaranteeing delivery within 15 working days nationwide.
In addition, the Ministry introduced a five-day visa processing service across Ghana’s missions abroad to facilitate travel, boost tourism and ease business mobility . Work is also far advanced on the design and procurement of a national electronic visa platform, with rollout targeted for 2026.
President Mahama said Ghana had secured new visa waiver agreements with 11 countries to promote people-to-people exchanges, trade and investment.
He disclosed that the country had made humanitarian donations to Jamaica, Cuba, Sudan and Palestine in response to disaster relief and conflict-related crises.
The donations, amounting to millions of cedis, included food, medicine, clothing and cocoa products.
On diaspora contributions, the President announced that remittances from Ghanaians abroad reached a historic high of 7.8 billion dollars in 2025, the largest annual inflow ever recorded.
He said the remittances reflected both confidence in the economy and the enduring patriotism of citizens living and working abroad, noting that the funds supported households, financed education, built homes, seeded businesses and stabilised the country’s foreign exchange position .
“In many respects, our diaspora has become one of the country’s most reliable development partners, without contracts, conditionality, or fanfare,” the President said.
President Mahama advocated reforms to ensure that citizenship, rather than place of residence, determined one’s right to serve the Republic.
He expressed personal support for a bipartisan bill before Parliament seeking to allow qualified Ghanaians abroad to participate more fully in public affairs, including the opportunity to hold public office, subject to appropriate safeguards for loyalty and accountability.
GNA
Edited by George-Ramsey Benamba