President John Dramani Mahama, on Sunday, held a town hall engagement with Ghanaians in the United Kingdom. The issues discussed focused on key national issues, investment opportunities, governance, and plans to actively involve Ghanaians living abroad in Ghana’s development agenda.

“Ghana is working again. The macro economy is stable. Indeed, a lot of people are surprised at how it was achieved, and Ghana has become the poster boy for economic recovery across the world”, President Mahama stated.

In his commendation of the Ghanaian diaspora for their contributions towards Ghana’s development, President Mahama said his government is finalising legislation through Parliament to enable those who hold other passports or dual passports to actively participate in politics at the parliamentary and ministerial levels.

“I privately call it the Gyakye Quayson Law because of the tribulations this man went through. He almost ended up in jail.”

President Mahama spoke about strengthening national unity and inclusion, acknowledging the contributions of Ghanaians in the diaspora towards Ghana’s economy.

“It’s obvious that you are a critical part of what we do back home. Your remittances reached an all-time high of over 7.8 billion dollars last year. I dare say it is probably much larger than the contributions many regions make to Ghana’s GDP. So you deserve your position as the 17th region of Ghana.”

“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. We have led Africa in the liberation struggle.”

Citing the recent feat at the United Nations, which has adopted a resolution on the transatlantic slave trade as a grievous crime against humanity, President Mahama said Ghana will move the agenda forward at a conference it will host next month.

“And so we’re hosting a conference in June, which is called the next steps, because after the UN resolution, what’s next? And so we’re bringing the Caribbean and all people of African descent from all over the world to come and discuss the way forward”

He also spoke passionately about the need to integrate the continent’s economies and to deliberate efforts to create cross-border opportunities for all. To this end, he expressed concern about recent developments on the continent.

“We’ve always pushed for African unity. It’s sad to see some of the things that are happening on the continent. We cannot achieve it in isolation. There’s no way that any African country can achieve progress without working with other countries. And that is why we passed the African Continental Free Trade Area so that our people can invest in each other’s countries,” he explained.

He noted that Ghana’s doors are open and that the government recently unveiled its visa-free policy for all African passport holders. He also spoke about the new E-visa system, designed to make the travel process more user-friendly.

“We’ve introduced the E-visa system, which makes it more convenient for our citizens living in the diaspora. You no longer have to travel from Middlesbrough or Birmingham to the High Commission to apply for a visa. Just sit wherever you are and submit the application, and within 48 hours, the visa will be issued.”

President Mahama pledged to promote good governance, ensure value for money, emphasising strict administrative directives, including a mandate for State-Owned Enterprise (SOE) bosses to submit audited accounts or face termination.

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