Rita Marley, wife of late Reggae superstar Bob Marley has been granted a dual citizenship by government in connection with the Pan-African Festival (PANAFEST) Foundation.

Her dual nationality as a Ghanaian and Jamaican is the first of its kind to be granted to a diasporan after several years of struggle.

Rita Marley has since been handed a Ghanaian passport and dual citizenship documents to guarantee her legal stay in the country.

The Chairman of PANAFEST foundation, Mr Kohain Nathanyeh Halevi Rabbi, who disclosed this to The Independent, expressed happiness and called on government to grant more dual citizenship to diasporans who were ready to create more jobs in the country.

According to him, his outfit has fought years to secure dual citizenship documents for diasporans yet, all effort proved futile.

“Many diasporans have struggled to secure dual citizenship but they have not been successful. I believe granting one to our mother Rita Marley is in the right direction but we need more for our people”, he said.

“Since Ghana is a peaceful country with respect for its values and traditions have attracted more investors to established businesses here, therefore granting them nationality would support the nation’s development” he added.

Speaking on this year’s PANAFEST celebrations, Mr Rabbi noted that this was the worst year since their patronage had gone down. He stated that the foundation received fewer resources to undertake its numerous activities.

The PANAFEST Chairman therefore called on government, stakeholders and benevolent organisations to come to their aid to revamp the festival to its old taste.