KINGSTON, Jamaica- Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Olivia “Babsy” Grange is the latest local government official to pay tribute to the late Archbishop of South Africa and 1994 Nobel Peace awardee Desmond Tutu.

In her statement, Minister Grange said the late Archbishop’s stance against the apartheid regime in South Africa was “admired by Jamaicans at home and in the Diaspora” and said his life’s work made him the subject of many reggae songs.

“He was widely regarded for his anti-apartheid and human rights activism. Archbishop Tutu was first ordained as an Anglican priest in the year of Jamaica’s independence, 1962, and later became the first Black bishop of Johannesburg in 1985. He was also ordained the first Black Archbishop of Cape Town in 1986. His strong stance against the apartheid regime in South Africa was admired by Jamaicans at home and in the Diaspora. Indeed, our Reggae artistes saluted his name on many tracks in much the same way that Eddie Grant did the single ‘Gimme Hope Jo’anna’ in 1988,” the minister said.

Recalling the Archbishop’s visit to Jamaica in 1986 at the invitation of former Prime Minister, the late Edward Seaga, Grange said that she clearly “recalled when the British Government was staging the Commonwealth Games in Scotland in July 1986, Mr Seaga took the decision to have Jamaica boycott the games to register its frustration with their refusal to impose sanctions on South Africa. He also invited the Archbishop and his family to Jamaica in August of that year, and presented him with an honorary Order of Jamaica (OJ) in recognition of his anti-apartheid work.”

Tutu died at the Oasis Frail Care Center in Cape Town on Sunday. He was 90 years old.

Tributes have been pouring out from leaders across the world as news of Tutu’s passing sinks in. Earlier today, Prime Minister, Andrew Holness and opposition leader, Mark Golding also saluted the equality activist.

Labelling Tutu one of his “personal heroes”, Holness said the Nobel Peace Prize-winning activist was a man of “peace, dignity and goodwill; a man of God who, with grace and humility, overcame a system of oppression and cruelty.”

In the meantime, Golding who referred to the late Tutu as an “iconic human rights advocate” said the world has lost someone who was loved for his “humility and commitment to non-violent change.”

Former US President Barack Obama also shared a tribute via social media.

“Archbishop Desmond Tutu was a mentor, a friend, and a moral compass for me and so many others. A universal spirit, Archbishop Tutu was grounded in the struggle for liberation and justice in his own country, but also concerned with injustice everywhere. He never lost his impish sense of humor and willingness to find humanity in his adversaries, and Michelle and I will miss him dearly,” his statement read.