Prime Minister Mottley calls for closer ties between Ghana, Barbados

Dwelling on the unique opportunities between Ghana and Barbados, Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley of Barbados, has called for closer ties between the two nations for mutual benefits.

She said both countries could explore their unique opportunities to the advantage of their people.

Prime Minister Motley made the call in Accra when she addressed Parliament, on Friday, as part of her three-day official visit to Ghana.

She is the first Prime Minister of Barbados to address the Parliament of Ghana. Barbados and Ghana started formal diplomatic relations in 1994.

The Prime Minister, among other things, is in the country to take part in the “Year of Return” festivities.

The “Year of Return, Ghana 2019” is a major marketing campaign targeting the African–American and Diaspora markets to mark 400 years of the first enslaved Africans arriving in Jamestown Virginia.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in June this year, visited Barbados where he formally invited the Prime Minister to visit Ghana.

Prime Minister Mottley also traced the history of Barbados and paid tribute to the many African slave warriors who sacrificed their lives leading to the total emancipation of the people.

“Our ancestors and your ancestors, kith and kin in Barbados, are of great honour, dignity and achievement,” she said to applause from the legislators.

She paid glowing tribute to Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s First President, and Mr A. F. Ribero, a lawyer in the then Gold Coast, for their pioneering role in the Pan-African Congress in Manchester that put in motion a critical political process leading to Ghana attaining independence.

Both the Caribbean and African nations also achieved extensive decolonisation.

Prime Minister Mottley commended the initiative, under which Ghanaians and Barbados citizens travelling to each other’s country did not need a visa.

“Now that they have reduced laborious paper restrictions on travelling, the two countries must now build on the concrete bridges to increase their travel volumes to each other’s country,” she said.

Prof. Aaron Michael Oquaye, praised the Prime Minister for an “excellent and most inspiring speech,” emphasizing the deepening of the natural affinity between Accra and Bridgetown.

“May God bless you and your delegation,” Speaker Oquaye said and wished the Prime Minister and her delegation, that included business leaders, a safe flight back home.

Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, the Majority Leader, paid glowing tribute to the Prime Minister and described her as a woman with profound strength and intellect.

He called on both countries to deepen their ties for the benefit of their people.

“The time has come for Ghana and Barbados to deepen the ties of cooperation,” he said and commended the Prime Minister for bringing to the fore the issue of climate change, which had to be tackled head-on by world leaders.

Mr Haruna Iddrisu, the Minority Leader, applauded the Prime Minister for her passionate appeal to Africans and those in the Diaspora to close their ranks and forge ahead in unity.

He said he agreed with Prime Minister Mottley that leaders in developing countries must unite to end the unjust International World Order.

He urged Ghana and Barbados to explore their prospects for the good of their citizens.