TAKORATWENE, AFRAM PLAINS — President John Dramani Mahama on Tuesday broke ground on Ghana’s first Farmer Services Centre in Takoratwene, launching what the government describes as a cornerstone of its effort to modernise the country’s agricultural sector and move smallholder farmers away from subsistence farming.

The centre, sited in the Afram Plains — a region the government has identified as a key agricultural growth corridor — is designed to operate as a one-stop hub offering farmers access to mechanised equipment, farm inputs, soil testing, storage facilities, extension training, and direct market linkages. Officials say the facility addresses long-running structural weaknesses that have kept Ghana’s farming sector from reaching its productive potential.

“This is how we transform agriculture — through practical, targeted investments,” President Mahama said at the groundbreaking ceremony.

The initiative is part of a broader national rollout, with government planning to establish 50 such centres across the country. Eleven are expected to begin construction this year.

Speaking at the event, Mahama framed the project as a deliberate policy shift, arguing that agriculture — which underpins the livelihoods of millions of Ghanaians — has long been held back by limited mechanisation, poor storage infrastructure, weak extension services, and fragmented market access. The new centres, he said, are intended to tackle all four at once.

The government is partnering with B5 Plus Group Limited on the project, with Mahama citing public-private collaboration as essential to the programme’s scale and sustainability. Beyond infrastructure, he said the broader agricultural agenda includes expanded irrigation, rural road development, climate-resilient farming practices, and value addition to boost farmer incomes.

Mahama also used the occasion to address input costs and pricing, assuring farmers that policies are in place to ease the financial burden of farming and guarantee fair prices for their produce.

Officials say the Afram Plains was selected for the first centre due to its substantial arable land and untapped potential for both crop and livestock production. The government hopes the facility will curb post-harvest losses, attract youth into commercial farming, and generate employment in the surrounding communities.

BEREKUM WEST DISTRICT — President John Dramani Mahama has toured the site of the 80-kilometre Jinijini–Sampa Road project in the Berekum West District, using the visit to reassure residents that the long-delayed highway will be fully asphalted by the end of 2027.

The inspection was part of Mahama’s ongoing “Resetting Ghana Tour,” a nationwide initiative through which the president has been making direct appearances in communities to monitor infrastructure projects and take stock of citizen concerns.

Flanked by traditional rulers, including chiefs and queen mothers, as well as community leaders and local residents, the president walked the project site and listened to firsthand accounts of how the road’s deteriorating condition has affected daily life and commerce in the area. He thanked residents for their reception and used the occasion to restate his administration’s commitment to transparency and accountability.

Mahama struck an optimistic note on the economy, pointing to what he described as early signs of stabilisation among them a decline in inflation and a strengthening of the cedi against major foreign currencies. He argued that restoring investor confidence and attracting fresh foreign direct investment would be crucial to sustaining that momentum.

Beyond the road itself, the president outlined a slate of flagship programmes his administration is pursuing, including the Big Push economic agenda, the Mahama Cares social initiative, Nkoko Nkitinkiti, and a 24-hour market programme designed to extend trading hours and boost local commerce. He referenced a recent sod-cutting ceremony for a 24-hour market in the region as a tangible sign of that agenda taking shape.

President Mahama closed by urging residents to attend an upcoming stakeholder engagement in Sunyani, saying that public input remained central to how his government intends to design and deliver policy.

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President John Dramani Mahama is set to table a landmark United Nations (UN) resolution seeking to declare the Transatlantic Slave Trade as the gravest crime against humanity on March 25, 2026.

The move fulfills a commitment made by President Mahama during his address to the UN General Assembly last year.

Ghana, acting in its role as the African Union (AU) Champion on Reparations, is spearheading the initiative in collaboration with the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and representatives of people of African descent globally. The draft resolution is scheduled for consideration and possible adoption by the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, March 25.

The proposed resolution aims to formally recognise the trafficking of enslaved Africans and the system of racialised chattel slavery as the gravest crime against humanity. It cites the unprecedented scale, duration, systemic character, brutality, and enduring global consequences of the Transatlantic Slave Trade as grounds for this designation.

If adopted, it would represent the first comprehensive UN resolution addressing slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade in the organisation’s 80-year history.

The resolution is expected to reinforce historical truth as a foundation for justice and reconciliation, while advancing calls for reparatory justice, accountability, and healing.

Its consideration coincides with the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Analysts say the initiative marks a significant step toward acknowledging historical injustices and confronting their long-term effects on global inequalities, development disparities, and structural imbalances.

Following a potential adoption, Ghana is expected to intensify multilateral efforts toward reparatory justice under the African Union’s Decade of Action on Reparations and African Heritage (2026–2036).

Ahead of the UN session, a wreath-laying ceremony will be held at the African Burial Ground in New York on March 24 at 8:00 a.m., followed by a high-level event on reparatory justice at 10:00 a.m. in Conference Room 3 at the UN headquarters.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has expressed appreciation to key partners, including the African Union Commission, UNESCO, CARICOM, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), as well as experts, diplomats, academics, and activists who contributed to the development of the resolution.

Ghana has called on all UN member states to support the initiative, urging them to “stand on the right side of history and justice.”

Officials available for interviews include the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa; Deputy Minister James Gyakye Quayson; Ambassador Francis Danti Kotia; Ambassador Harold Adlai Agyeman; and Special Envoy for Reparations, Dr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah.