I love akomfem - U.S. Ambassador

The Ambassador of the United States to Ghana, Mr. Robert P. Jackson has said his favourite Ghanaian dish is Guinea Fowl meat, locally known as ‘akomfem’.

He told Dr. Etsey Sikanku on Class91.3FM’s America Decides programme on Friday, 4 November that even though he enjoys ‘kelewele’ – fried ripe plantain, too, akomfem is top of his list of local Ghanaian dishes.

Mr Jackson was sworn in as Ambassador to the Republic of Ghana on November 30, 2015. From October 2013 until the swearing-in, he served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs and was Ambassador to the Republic of Cameroon from October 2010 until October 2013.

Mr. Jackson’s previous assignments include postings as Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé d’Affaires, a.i., Rabat, Morocco; Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé d’Affaires, a.i., Dakar, Senegal; Director of the Office for the Promotion of Human Rights and Democracy at the Department of State in Washington, D.C.; Political/Economic Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire; Political-Military Officer in Lisbon, Portugal; Coordinator of the Entry-Level Officer Training Program (A-100) and Deputy Director of the Orientation Division at the Foreign Service Institute; Country Officer for Zimbabwe and Botswana; Chief of the Political Section in Harare, Zimbabwe; Country Officer for Nigeria; Political/Economic Officer in Bujumbura, Burundi; and Consular/Economic Officer in Montreal, Canada. Mr. Jackson has been a Member of the Senior Foreign Service since December 2003. In 2006, he received the James A. Baker III – C. Howard Wilkins, Jr., Award for Outstanding Deputy Chief of Mission. He has also received three individual superior honor awards and two individual meritorious honor awards.

Prior to joining the Foreign Service in 1982, Mr. Jackson taught French and English as a foreign language at the Institut Montana in Zugerberg, Switzerland. He had previously taught English and American Civilization at the University of Clermont in Clermont-Ferrand, France. Mr. Jackson earned his M.S. in National Resource Strategy from National Defense University, his M.A. in International Affairs from the George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and his B.A. in Government and Legal Studies from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. He is married. Ambassador Jackson speaks French and Portuguese.