By Iddi Yire, GNA Special Correspondent in London
London, June 1, GNA – President John Dramani Mahama has reiterated the need for African countries to rekindle the flame of Pan-Africanism to achieve collective economic leverage on the continent.
The President made the call in his address in London during a Town Hall Meeting with diaspora Ghanaians living in the United Kingdom on day two of his five-day official visit to the UK.
“And so, there’s a time when we must be proud to be Ghanaian, not only because our economy is doing well, but we can see that we are making progress towards the country that our forebears dreamed us to become,” he said.
“We have led Africa in a liberation struggle. And under our first president, we push for African continental unity. And Ghana has been at the forefront of Pan-Africanism. And I must say that we have achieved our pride of place again at the forefront of Pan-Africanism.”
President Mahama, who is the African Union Champion for Reparations and Restorative Justice, said the African diaspora and indeed, Africans on the continent had been struggling over the issue of reparations for so many years.
‘We became the champions of Reparations and Restorative Justice. And when I went to the UN in September, I announced to the world that we’re going to move a motion to describe the slave trade, transatlantic slave trade as a grievous crime against humanity. And we did that with 123 votes.” The President stated.
He said a lot of people believe that there was no way they could garner that support, but they did.
“And that has put on record what happened to our ancestors and people of African ancestry. Now we need to move to the next step. And so we’re hosting a conference in June, which is called the next steps. And it’s called the next steps because after the UN resolution, what next?” He quizzes.
“And so we’re bringing the Caribbean and all people of African descent from all over the world to come and discuss what the next steps are.”
The President said: “We’ve always pushed for African unity. And so it’s sad to see some of the things that are happening on the continent. There’s no way that any African country can achieve the kind of progress that it needs without working with other countries.”
“We cannot achieve it in isolation. And that is why we pass the African Continental Free Trade Area so that our people can invest in each other’s countries.”
The President reiterated that their people could move freely among each other’s countries.
“Ghana is auctioning this. Recently we have made visas to our country for all African passport holders free of charge. So any African traveling to Ghana does not have to pay for a visa.” He said.
The President said in doing that, they had introduced the E-visa system, which makes it more convenient for their citizens living in Diaspora.
“No longer do you have to come from Middlesbough or Birmingham to the High Commission to come and apply for a visa. You just sit wherever you are and put in the application. And within 48 hours, the visa will be issued.”
“Indeed, I had the honour of issuing the first visa. And the person who got the first visa on there when I pressed the portal is a Serbian,” President Mahama said.
President Mahama said, he later found that the Serbian was an oil rig worker.
He noted that he had since arrived at the Accra International Airport, and then he continued to Takoradi, boarded a helicopter, and that he was now on the oil rig somewhere offshore in Ghana.
“And so that’s an achievement we are all proud of.” He said.
GNA
Kenneth Odeng Adade