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General News of Sunday, 25 March 2018

Source: mynewsgh.com

Robert Jackson to be replaced by new US Ambassador in July

United States Ambassador to Ghana, Robert Jackson play videoUnited States Ambassador to Ghana, Robert Jackson

The United States Ambassador to Ghana Robert Jackson has revealed he will be leaving the Ghana duty post after more than two years in Accra.

And in case you would want to know, it is not because of any of the recent controversy surrounding his remarks in interviews or handling of the U.S Military base brouhaha.

He has been posted to Burundi, Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal, Morocco among others, before he came to Ghana two years ago.

Mr Robert Jackson revealed how he felt about leaving Ghana in a farewell luncheon held to honour him by the American Chamber of Commerce in Ghana.

Part of the full speech read:

“It is bittersweet to be here today to participate in a “farewell luncheon.” I always welcome the opportunity to engage with the American business community, but it is sad that it’s already time to start thinking about saying goodbye to Ghana,” he told the US business moguls in Ghana at the Golden Tulip hotel.

But the Ambassador, while his farewell dinner was in March, reminded the gathering he still had up to July to enjoy the Ghana air.

“While travel, scheduling conflicts, and the imminent departure of many of my team led us to convene this “farewell” event in March, just know that “I am not leaving yet!””, he said to laughter.

Ambassador Robert Jackson will be fondlyremembered by many Ghanaians for homosexuality comments and controversy that over a US Military base in Ghana than for his numerous role helping improve literacy, health, and growing Ghana-America business relations.

Ambassador Jackson served as the U.S. Department of State’s Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for African Affairs from 2013 to 2015. From 2010 to 2013 he was the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Cameroon.

His previous overseas assignments include:

Deputy Chief of Mission and Charge d’Affaires, a.i., Rabat, Morocco

Deputy Chief of Mission and Charge d’Affaires, a.i., Dakar, Senegal

Political/Economic Counselor, Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire

Political-Military Officer, Lisbon, Portugal

Chief of the Political Section, Harare, Zimbabwe

Political/Economic Officer in Bujumbura, Burundi

Consular/Economic Officer in Montreal, Canada



He has also served in Washington, D.C., as the Director of the Office for the Promotion of Human Rights and Democracy; as the Country Officer for Zimbabwe,

Botswana and Nigeria; and as the Coordinator of the Entry-Level Officer Training Program and Deputy Director of the Orientation Division at the Department of State’s Foreign Service Institute.

Ambassador Jackson is joined in Ghana by his wife, Babs. Prior to joining the U.S. Foreign Service in 1982, Ambassador Jackson taught French and English as a foreign language at the Institute Montana in Zugerberg, Switzerland.



He had previously taught English and American Civilization at the University of Clermont in Clermont-Ferrand, France.

Ambassador Jackson earned his M.S. in National Resource Strategy from National Defense University, his M.A. in International Affairs from the George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and his B.A. in Government and Legal Studies from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine.

Ambassador Jackson speaks French and Portuguese.