Prime Minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis, Dr Terrance Michael Drew, has revealed that President John Mahama’s address at the United Nations General Assembly last year inspired him to visit Ghana.
Speaking at the Jubilee House on Wednesday, March 4, during his state visit, Dr Drew said he was moved by President Mahama’s speech and immediately expressed his desire to meet him.
“There are a lot of speeches given at the UN General Assembly, but I particularly listened to your speech, and your speech inspired me,” he said.
“I told my team that I wanted to meet you. And I’m not only meeting you, but you have welcomed me. Thank you very much.”
The Caribbean leader described his arrival in Ghana as an emotional and deeply familiar experience.
“As I arrived in Ghana and I was driving along the street, I could not tell the difference whether I was at home or in a foreign country,” he said, noting what he described as the shared cultural and historical bonds between the two nations.
Dr Drew stressed that his visit goes beyond formal diplomacy, framing it as a reconnection of family across continents.
“We come not only as partners in diplomacy, but as family reconnecting across the Atlantic,” he said.
“Saint Kitts and Nevis and Ghana share more than diplomatic ties; we share history.”
He reflected on the painful legacy of the transatlantic slave trade, noting that while it forcibly separated ancestors, it did not erase their identity or resilience.
“The transatlantic slave trade possibly connected our ancestors, but it did not erase their identity, culture, intellect or resilience,” he said.
“In our music, in our spirituality, our cuisine and our communal traditions, the spirit of Africa lives on in St. Kitts and Nevis and the Caribbean.”
Saint Kitts and Nevis is a small twin-island nation in the eastern Caribbean, part of the Leeward Islands chain. It is the smallest sovereign state in the Western Hemisphere, both by land area and population.
It has a population of a little over 50,0000.
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