Africa

His Excellency Lt. Gen. Joseph Henry Smith (Rtd) on Monday June 20, 2016 presented his Letters of Credence as Ghana’s First High Commissioner to Belize to the Acting Governor General of Belize, H.E. Carlos Perdomo at “Belize House” in Belmopan.

Ambassador Smith presented his Open Letters to the Minister for Natural Resources and Immigration, Senator Godwin Hulse, who stood in for Hon. Wilfred Elrington, Minister for Foreign Affairs who had travelled out of the country.

Ghana today (July13, 2016) urged the international community to act impartially in all cases of human rights violations.

"In order to maintain the credibility of the international human rights architecture, we must demonstrate through our actions that every citizen of the world deserves the same level of respect and protection", Ambassador Martha Pobee, Ghana's Permanent Representative to the United Nations stated in her address at the High Level thematic debate of the General Assembly in New York on "UN@70: Human Right at the center of the global agenda".

Ghanaians would wince, roll their eyes and suck their teeth when they hear Ghana is first of the 54 countries of the African Union (AU) to report back to the AU that it has completed mechanisms for the use of the continental passport proposed by the organisation.

Acquiring a passport in Ghana has become a case of a camel passing through the eye of a needle.

Ghana has started a visa-on-arrival scheme at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) for all African Union Nationals whose countries do not have a visa-free agreement with the country, the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) has said in Accra.

“All AU nationals affected by the policy who arrive in the country must have a passport, valid for at least three months from the date of entry; they must have a return ticket or evidence of onward travel; they must show evidence of sufficient funds and proof of accommodation before they are granted visas.

As President Obama prepares to leave the national and global scene much ink would be spent discussing, debating, and dissecting his legacy. While much of this deliberation is likely to focus on his contribution to bare-knuckled politics, raw policy and other fiscal issues I argue that Barack Obama’s imprint on his country and the world goes beyond dollars and cents.