JAMAICA and Ghana took another significant step in strengthening their shared African heritage on Tuesday, with the official handover of two reconstructed African houses at Seville Heritage Park in St Ann.

The ceremony formed part of the four-day State visit of Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama. He was accompanied by Ghana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, and Ghana’s non-resident High Commissioner to Jamaica Kofi Attor.

The African houses were built by members of the Ghana Armed Forces Engineering Reconstruction Corps, whose deployment to Jamaica initially came as a humanitarian mission following the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa last October.

After assisting with recovery efforts across affected communities, the engineering team remained to construct the traditional Ghanaian-style houses as a lasting tribute to the African men and women who were forcibly brought to Jamaica and whose culture helped shape the nation’s identity.