The Diaspora Affairs Office of the President (DAOOP) has held the maiden Ghana Diaspora Townhall Meeting at the Christiansborg Castle in Osu, Accra, as part of efforts to strengthen collaboration between the government and the Ghanaian and African Diaspora community.
The meeting, held last Friday, was on the theme: “Listening Today, Building Tomorrow: Strengthening Ghana’s Partnership with the Diaspora.”
The annual townhall is intended to provide a structured platform for direct dialogue between the government and the Diaspora, allowing concerns to be raised and addressed while creating opportunities for greater participation in national development.
The Director of Diaspora Affairs at the Office of the President, Kofi Okyere-Darko (KOD), said the meeting was important because the government wanted to have a direct and honest conversation with members of the Diaspora.
He said the objective was to listen to what had worked, what had not worked and what could be done differently to strengthen the partnership.
“The future of Africa will not be perfect without the contribution of the Diaspora,” Mr Okyere-Darko stated.
He noted that since 2016, when President John Dramani Mahama conferred citizenship on some members of the Diaspora, many more had acquired Ghanaian citizenship.
He said it was, therefore, important to obtain feedback from them and facilitate solutions to the challenges they faced to enable them to contribute meaningfully to Ghana’s economy.
To ensure that concerns could be addressed during the engagement, DAOOP brought together about 30 private and public institutions, including the Lands Commission, Rent Control Department, Ghana Immigration Service, National Identification Authority (NIA), Black Stars Experience Secretariat and Ghana Tourism Authority.
Mr Okyere-Darko said the engagement would not end with the townhall, stressing that concerns raised would be considered in the formulation of future government policies.
Some members of the Diaspora who participated in the meeting expressed concern about the high prices attached to items such as rent, land and real estate when they sought to acquire them.
They, however, commended DAOOP for organising the event and expressed optimism that the initiative would help address some of the difficulties they encountered.
The programme featured nine thematic listening sessions covering citizenship, immigration, residency and the NIA; property and real estate; tourism, culture and heritage; business registration and investment; employment, skills and knowledge transfer; Diaspora engagement and integration; education and youth; infrastructure and public services; and health and safety.
The townhall ended with the presentation and adoption of key recommendations and priority actions for 2026 and 2027. The recommendations are expected to inform an institutional action matrix to guide continuous engagement between the government and the Diaspora
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
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