Barbados PM opens CARICOM office in Kenya

Mia Amor, the Prime Minister, accepted a space in an ultra-modern business complex in Nairobi, Kenya, yesterday on behalf of her regional colleagues to be the home of a joint diplomatic mission.

On her official visit to the African nation, it was the first significant engagement.

The office, located near the street from the United Nation’s first home on the continent, is supposed to be a hive of activity shortly as Caribbean governments build good relations with their African counterparts.

Mottley said she found the opportunity to be very emotional, given the blood, sweat and tears many people had expended to get to this stage after years of exploitation.

“Our region and Africa have been divided, not just by the Atlantic Ocean, but by ages of division and exploitation,” she told those attending the ceremony, including Kenya’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Monica Juma.

“And we as a region are settled that we will not allow this separation to continue any further. When we claim our Atlantic destiny, we are assured that we are coming home; we are aware that we are lighting the bonds that may have been sparked by our predecessors in North Atlantic capitals, but borne out of shared values and an everyday battle.