British Under-secretary of state visiting Ghana

Sir John Kerr, Britain's Permanent Under-Secretary of State and Head of Diplomatic Service, is to visit Ghana from September 9 to 11, the British High Commission said on Friday.

This is Sir John's first visit to the country and is looking forward to meeting the Vice President, other political figures and representatives of the British and Ghanaian business communities.

During his visit, Sir John will open the new visa and consular building at the British High Commission and host a breakfast for this year's recipient of British Chevening Scholarship for Postgraduate studies in the United Kingdom.

Sir John, a Scot, born in Grantown-on-Spey in 1942 was educated in Glasgow Academy and Pembroke College, Oxford.

He joined the Foreign Service in 1965 and served in the Foreign Office, Moscow and Rawalpindi, where he worked on NATO issues.

In 1995, he was transferred to Washington, as Ambassador to the United States. He became FCO Permanent Secretary and head of the diplomatic service in 1997. He is married with two sons and three daughters.