Arusha – Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama’s official visit to Tanzania this week served as a platform to address both economic and human rights issues, culminating in a bilateral meeting with President Samia Suluhu Hassan.
The visit, which included Mahama’s address at the 20th anniversary of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, also saw the two leaders agree to establish a Permanent Joint Commission for Cooperation.
During a bilateral meeting at the State House in Arusha on March 2, 2026, President Samia sought to reassure her Ghanaian counterpart about the political situation in her country.
“In Tanzania, we are calm and cool. Politically, we are calm and cool. Everything is under control after what happened in October during our election. But now the country has come to normalcy,” she said.
This statement comes after Ghana issued a strong condemnation of the state-sponsored violence and human rights violations that followed the disputed October 29, 2025, general election in Tanzania.
READ MORE: Ghana Calls for Credible Investigations on Post-Election Violence in Tanzania
President Samia also informed President Mahama that she had formed a commission of inquiry to investigate the post-election violence and that a reconciliation commission would be established to implement the inquiry’s recommendations.
“I formed the commission for inquiry, of which we are waiting for the report and recommendations towards forming another reconciliation commission that is going to implement the recommendations that come with the report of the commission of enquiry, and later on, a constitution review of our constitution,” she stated.
While the Ghanaian State House did not report on the meeting, the Tanzania state house reported that the two leaders also discussed economic cooperation, with a focus on value addition to natural resources. President Samia highlighted Tanzania’s economic growth of 6 per cent last year and low inflation, while emphasising her government’s focus on economic transformation through industrialisation and human capital development.
President Mahama shared Ghana’s experiences in the mining and cocoa sectors, highlighting reforms aimed at increasing local processing and revenue. The leaders agreed to enhance cooperation in mining, agriculture, digitalisation, and fintech.
President Mahama’s visit to Arusha was primarily to attend the opening of the 2026 judicial year of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary.
READ MORE: Tanzania Government Moves to Reassure International Partners With Election Unrest Inquiry
In his address to the court, he called for a renewed commitment to human rights on the continent. The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights was established in 2006 to protect human and peoples’ rights in Africa. It is the judicial arm of the African Union and one of the three regional human rights courts in the world.
The historic ties between Ghana and Tanzania, rooted in the pan-African vision of their founding fathers, Kwame Nkrumah and Julius Nyerere, were also a recurring theme during the visit.
Both presidents reaffirmed their commitment to this shared legacy of economic self-reliance and continental solidarity.
One Response
President Mahama should have clearly distanced himself from engaging in such a meeting without publicly affirming democratic principles. At the very least, he ought to have used the opportunity to counsel Tyrant Samia on the fundamentals of constitutional democracy, respect for human rights, and the integrity of electoral processes.
As a leader from Ghana — widely regarded as one of Africa’s stronger examples of peaceful transfers of power and institutional democratic practice — he carries both moral authority and continental responsibility. Silence or neutrality in the face of democratic backsliding risks being interpreted as acquiescence.