The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, on September 17, 2025, through the ministry, honoured some five Ghanian personalities in the creative arts industry with a diplomatic passport.
The personalities who were handed the diplomatic passports are travel content creator Wode Maya, Grammy-nominated reggae musician Rocky Dawuni, media entrepreneur Anita Erskine, artist Ibrahim Mahama, and entrepreneur Dentaa Amoateng.
This article will explore a brief profile of the five personalities who have been honoured with a diplomatic passport.
Wode Maya
Berthold Kobby Winkler Ackon, popularly known as Wode Maya, was born on March 3, 1990.
Wode Maya is a YouTuber, digital media influencer, and aeronautical engineer.
He is from Ahekofi, Kofikrom, a town in the Western region of Ghana, and attended the Beijing Language and Culture University in China.
The YouTuber was a student when he started vlogging in China about his experiences and later quit his job as an aeronautical engineer. He is married to Turdy, a Kenyan YouTuber.
In 2022, he was awarded Online Creator of the Year at the Entertainment Achievement Awards.
Anita Erskine
Media and communications entrepreneur, broadcaster, Anita Erskine was born on December 3, 1978. She is the Executive Producer and host of Anita Erskine’s Sheroes.
The media personality was born in Jerusalem, Israel, to a former Ghanaian soldier and politician, Lieutenant General Emmanuel Erskine and Rose Anastasia Erskine.
She was raised in Ghana and moved to Canada during her teens. She had her Primary Education at Christ the King International School and her Secondary Education at Ghana International School.
Ibrahim Mahama, Wode Maya, Rocky Dawuni, and others offered diplomatic passports
Erskine holds a Master’s degree in Communications Management from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, and a bachelor’s degree in Cultural Studies from Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada.
Anita’s first TV show appearance on Ghanaian TV was in 1998 when she hosted the Bold and Beautiful Omnibus Talk Show on Metro TV.
In 2006, she became the host of TV3’s Mentor. After an audition in 2007, she became the Ghanaian correspondent for MNET’s Studio 53.
Since 2020, she has worked as a communications specialist to promote global awareness and policy change toward sustainable development through speaking engagements and event hosting.
She has hosted high-level dialogues, international conferences, summits, award ceremonies, product launches, and diplomatic receptions. Her notable appearances include the Mjadala Afrika Leadership Debate 2024 at the African Union Headquarters.
Rocky Dawuni
Rocky Dawuni is a Ghanaian singer and a four-time Grammy-nominee, songwriter, and record producer who performs his signature ‘Afro Roots’ sound, which is a mixture of Reggae, Afrobeats, Highlife, and Soul music.
He currently lives between Ghana and the United States.
Rocky Dawuni burst onto the African reggae scene in 1996 with the release of his debut recording, The Movement.
The artistes’ introspective journey into social and spiritual consciousness garnered rave reviews in the Ghanaian press and spawned two hit singles, with both “Sugar” and “What Goes Around” obtaining massive Ghanaian airplay.
Dawuni has recorded eight full-length albums. His sixth studio album, titled “Branches of The Same Tree,” was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album in December 2015 for the 58th Annual Grammy Awards.
He has won both local and international awards to his name, and he was recently honoured by the Grammy Awards for being nominated in its 67th edition.
At the 67th Grammy Awards, Rocky was nominated for “Best Global Music Performance.”
Ibrahim Mahama (Artist)
Contemporary artist known for his large-scale installations, sculptures, and architectural interventions, Ibrahim Mahama was born in 1987 in Tamale, Ghana.
His works explore global trade, commodification, labor, economic inequality, migration, and the socio-political legacies of colonialism in Africa.
Mahama transforms everyday materials, such as jute sacks used in commodity exchange and abandoned infrastructure, into works that engage with collective memory and historical narratives.
Being the ninth out of ten siblings in a polygamous family, Ibrahim Mahama has exhibited internationally, including Venice Biennale, Documenta, and his work has also been held in public collections worldwide, including the Centre Pompidou, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
He studied fine art at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi, where he specialised in painting and sculpture, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting in 2010, a Master of Fine Arts in Painting and Sculpture in 2013, and a PhD in Fine Art in 2015.
Dentaa Amoateng
Akosua Dentaa Amoateng (born 1983), best known by her stage name Dentaa, is a British Ghanaian entrepreneur, actress, TV presenter, singer, producer, and manager.
She was appointed a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2016 Birthday Honours, and in 2017, she received the Ghana Peace Awards Humanitarian Service Laureate in Accra, Ghana.
In mid-September 2020, she was appointed by Asante Kotoko S.C. as their International Relations Manager.
As an actress, she appeared on British television shows including EastEnders and Holby City, before moving into presenting and hosting programmes on British and Ghanaian TV, including The Dentaa Show and reality TV music competition Mentor IV.
How Wode Maya, Dentaa, Rocky Dawuni, and Ibrahim Mahama reacted to diplomatic passport honour
She also had a brief career as a singer, releasing a gospel album in 2005, “Wu Ye Nyame.”
Dentaa has four children: Nuquari, Awiyah Amoateng, Adansi Amoateng, and Enijie Amoateng Jr.
She won the 2013 African Women in Europe award, and in 2016, she was appointed as a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2016 Birthday Honours. Also in 2017, Dentaa was awarded the Ghana Peace Awards Humanitarian Service Laureate.
JHM/EB
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