President John Dramani Mahama has, on behalf of the government and the people of Ghana, donated modest but heartfelt relief items worth GHS 10 million to three countries —Jamaica, Cuba, and Sudan —that have been hit by a humanitarian crisis.
The gesture responds to the destruction caused by Hurricane Melissa, a category 5 cyclone that swept through the Caribbean, affecting over 1.5 million people in Jamaica, Cuba, and other islands, as well as the heavy toll on refugee agencies tackling thousands displaced by the Sudanese conflict.
The items donated include 2,400 bags of Ghana rice, 540 bags of sugar, 377 boxes of medication, 500 mattresses, 500 pillows, 100 cartons of gari mix, and 50,000 pieces of T-shirts.
The rest are three 20-foot containers of assorted products and Ghanaian chocolate products, 20 pieces of 500-litre water tanks, 20 pieces of hand-wash stations, 10 pieces of emergency portable toilets, and assorted clothes.
President Mahama said the donation is a token of Ghana’s deep solidarity, respect, and fraternity with the affected countries.
“You can imagine the kind of devastation that it wreaked on Jamaica, and from Jamaica, it continued to Cuba. Hundreds of people have lost their lives and are still counting. Other people are missing, who have not been accounted for,” he observed.
President Mahama described the presentation as symbolic of Ghana’s friendship and goodwill in challenging times for brotherly nations, and it is in the spirit of camaraderie with the good people of Jamaica, Cuba and the Sudan.
“Sudan is actually becoming the forgotten wall because of Ukraine and Gaza. It looks like the world’s attention has shifted from there,” he said.
“Some of the atrocities, the genocide, and the humanitarian suffering that is taking place in Sudan are not something that belongs to the 21st century.”
The items donated, according to President Mahama, will be distributed in the ratio of 50% to Jamaica, 30% to Cuba, and 20% to humanitarian agencies in Sudan.
The products were donated by businesses in Ghana, including Latex Foam, Ash Form, MTN, Farm Masters Global, Twilion Company, Dignity DTRR Apparel, Pharmanova Ghana, and Atlantic Lifesciences Ltd. Others are Mancwa Commodities Ltd, Duraplast Ltd, Terraprime Group Ghana Ltd, Mid Atlantic Group, Ghana Cocoa Board, Cocoa Processing Company and Businessman Ibrahim Mahama.
The High Commissioner of Jamaica to Ghana, H.E. Lincoln George Downer, who received the items on behalf of the three nations, expressed gratitude to President Mahama and the Government and People of Ghana.
