Emancipation Day celebration begins with wreath laying

Accra, July 21, GNA - Three separate wreath laying on the tombs of Dr W.E.B. Du Bois, George Padmore and Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah in Accra on Wednesday marked the beginning of the 2010 Emancipation Day celebration.

The celebration being organised by Ghana Tourist Board, under the auspices of Ministry of Tourism, is under the theme: "Rejuvenating The Dreams and Aspirations of African Youth".

Mrs Zita Okaikoi, the Minister of Tourism, said the continuous celebration of the day that had become an annual event on the tourism calendar provided a platform to commemorate the final abolishing of slavery in British colonies.

She said despite 174 years of celebrating emancipation day, Africans were still not free from persistent horror stories about slavery and other forms of subjugation.

Mrs Okaikoi said the experience during the trans-Atlantic slave trade should guide African countries especially Ghana that was the cradle of the trade.

"This year's celebration is a clarion call for the youth to take advantage of all the opportunities offered them for their education, training and welfare to take their rightful place in the country," she said.

Mr Adjei Annang, a Member of Council of State, said the process that resulted in slavery should not be allowed to disappear with time, the slave castles, dungeons, chains and shackles which had stayed with the people over the years would forever remind them of their history.

He said the Founding Fathers of freedom on the continent, had one thing in common, which was the creation of a future for the youth to realise their dreams and aspirations.

Mr Annang therefore called on the youth to be committed, strong, and have a mission to strive and soar above all challenges.

"The lessons to be learnt from these celebrations are for us to eschew individualism, mediocrity, and ethnocentrism and forge togetherness, communality, fairness, and dignity for all people of the world," he said.