Remembering Wudase Mariam
Mrs. Naomi Patricia Palmer-Buchanan (Wudase Mariam) was a Pan-Africanist, educationist, humanitarian, and founding force behind the Marcus Mosiah Garvey Foundation.
A leader by nature
Born in Duansvale, Trelawney, Jamaica to Cassandra Palmer and Wilfred Palmer, Naomi was the oldest of eight children. Her intelligence, confidence, and natural sense of responsibility shaped a life of service, learning, family, enterprise, and community-building.
After moving to England in 1966, she excelled at school and later built a strong career in secretarial and administrative work. She studied Social Science at Birmingham Polytechnic and completed her degree with full honours.
Homecoming as purpose
Naomi was deeply influenced by the philosophy of Marcus Mosiah Garvey and believed in the cultural and political unity of African people. She first travelled to Ghana in 1993, purchased land in Kokrobitey, and later made Ghana her permanent home.
In 2001, Naomi and Neville Buchanan were baptised into the Ethiopian Tewahedo Church and received the names Wudase Mariam and Girma Melekot. Ghana became not only a place of residence, but a return to ancestral purpose.
Her legacy continues through practical opportunity.
In 2018, Wudase Mariam and Girma Melekot established the Marcus Mosiah Garvey Foundation. The Foundation provides free vocational training to underserved young people and reflects Naomi's belief that education, skill, unity, and opportunity can change lives.
She became a citizen of the Republic of Ghana in 2019, an honour she cherished deeply. Her life in Ghana, her humanitarian work, and her commitment to bringing people together remain central to the spirit of MMGF.
She believed in bringing people together, because with unity all things are possible.
Family tribute
The crowning legacy of Naomi's life in Ghana is the establishment of the Marcus Mosiah Garvey Foundation.
Girma Melekot tribute