Omanghana
President John Dramani Mahama will undertake a four-day official visit to Kingston, Jamaica, from Sunday, August 2, to Wednesday, August 5, 2026.
The visit is expected to strengthen the longstanding historical and diplomatic relationship between Ghana and Jamaica while expanding cooperation between Africa and the Caribbean Community.
President Mahama’s program will focus on reparatory justice, trade, investment, culture and South-South cooperation. The trip also follows Ghana’s recent provision of humanitarian assistance to Jamaica after a major natural disaster.
A central feature of the visit will be a high-level Reparations Dialogue at the University of the West Indies’ Mona Campus.
Mahama will join Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, UWI vice-chancellor and chairman of the CARICOM Reparations Commission, to discuss coordinated action addressing the transatlantic slave trade and its continuing consequences.
The meeting builds on a United Nations resolution adopted in March 2026 that recognized the trafficking of enslaved Africans as the gravest crime against humanity.
The resolution was championed by Mahama in his role as the African Union’s lead advocate on reparatory justice. It received the support of 123 countries, including all CARICOM member states.
The Jamaica discussions are also expected to advance the 19-point reparations framework endorsed by African and Caribbean representatives at a high-level conference in Accra in June.
The framework calls for formal apologies, financial compensation, debt relief, the return of cultural objects and human remains, and reforms to international institutions. It also proposes the establishment of a global reparations fund.
Beyond reparatory justice, Mahama will hold bilateral talks with Jamaican Prime Minister Dr. Andrew Holness at the Office of the Prime Minister.
Their discussions will focus on trade, culture and expanded South-South cooperation. Both governments are expected to review existing agreements and identify new areas for collaboration.
A Trade and Investment Dialogue will bring together government officials and members of the private sector to examine commercial opportunities between Ghana and Jamaica.
Mahama is also scheduled to tour the Kingston Freeport, where discussions are expected to focus on maritime trade, logistics and the potential for stronger economic links between West Africa and the Caribbean.
The President will address a joint sitting of Jamaica’s Houses of Parliament at George William Gordon House. His address is expected to outline his vision for a closer strategic relationship between Africa and the Caribbean.
As part of the official program, Mahama will receive a courtesy call from Jamaican Opposition Leader Mark Golding. Governor-General Sir Patrick Allen and Lady Allen will also host a state dinner in the Ghanaian leader’s honor at King’s House.
The itinerary includes several events recognizing the shared African heritage of Ghana and Jamaica.
Mahama will lay a wreath at the shrine of Jamaican national hero Marcus Mosiah Garvey at National Heroes Park. Garvey’s Pan-African philosophy significantly influenced independence movements and Black political thought across Africa and the diaspora.
The President will also visit Seville Heritage Park in St. Ann to view its preserved Ghanaian Village Houses, which represent the ancestral and cultural connections created by the forced transportation of Africans to the Caribbean.
Mahama will attend the “Mello-Go-Roun” cultural event at the National Arena as Jamaica commemorates its 64th Independence Anniversary.
The Presidency said the visit would help position Ghana as a gateway for CARICOM’s engagement with Africa while promoting a united approach to reparatory justice, economic resilience and international cooperation.
Source: Omanghana
