Minister for Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, is receiving massive accolades for allocating diplomatic passports to young and prominent Ghanaians, deemed as worthy ambassadors both locally and internationally.
The five (5), announced by the Minister on Wednesday September 17, are media personality Anita Erskine, YouTuber Wodemaya, artist Ibrahim Mahama, UK-based Ghanaian Dentaa Amoateng and Grammy awards nominee, Rocky Dawuni.
According to those enthused about the announcement, the beneficiary of the gesture are highly qualified and have earned it in their own right.
In their estimation, the five have distinguished themselves in their fields of endeavours and that this is serving as a boast to especially the creative arts and culture industries.
The move, in their view, is a feather in the cup of the government and a bold step to motivate, encourage players in the creative space, indicating that they are well deserved personalities.
A writer and a Multimedia journalist, who appears pleasantly surprised is full of praise for the government and the Minister saying he thinks that the administration is thinking right.
Kwame Dadzie in a post captioned as “A boon to the cultural and creative industries”, said he finds the allocations apt. He maintained that the allocations were fairly distributed.
“Earlier today when the Foreign Affairs Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, announced that he was giving Wode Maya, Rocky Dawuni, Anita Erskine, Ibrahim Mahama and Dentaa Amoateng diplomatic passports, I said to myself, “these people are thinking right”, he said.
Adding “As a creative and a journalist who plies my trade in the tourism, arts and culture space, I believe this is a bold statement the government has made for our sector.
They did not choose just anybody. These five people are real cultural ambassadors and they cut across various sub-fields of the CCIs: music, visual arts, broadcasting/media, tourism/content creation and creative entrepreneurship. This should be a glimmer of hope for our creative sector”.
Another journalist, Ebenezer Afanyi Dadzie, waded into the discussion indicating that, the decision was “awesome” move.
He stressed that he entirely agrees with the government, recalling how in the past, diplomatic passports were given to citizens who in his view did not merit it.
“For once a government has not just shared Diplomatic passports among politicians and the elite but an ordinary citizen who’s doing a great job that requires such support. Awesome move”, he said.
A South Sudanese social media creator, Mr BMG, who was seen in Ghana this year, with Wode Maya, expressed joy about the recognition given his colleague.
BMG in a post with a picture of him and his friend said “Congratulations Your Excellency Wodemaya. The Latest Diplomatic passport holder in Africa. This is how it’s supposed to be. Please how can I become a Ghanaian”.
By Gifty Boateng