Ghana Honoured To Host Queen’s Baton Relay

– Hon. Afriyie Ankrah

The Minister of Youth and Sports, Hon. Elvis Afriyie Ankrah has expressed delight that Ghana has been granted the honour of hosting the Glasgow 2014 Queen’s Baton Relay.

He said the Relay brought with it an opportunity to highlight and promote the city and our athletes via the accompanying local and international media attention.

Outlining the program at a Press briefing held at the Media Center at the Accra Sports Stadium, the Hon. Minister stated that planning was already well under way to celebrate the arrival of the Glasgow 2014 Queen’s Baton Relay which will travel through places of interest in Accra and Ho.

The Minister stated that the baton would be officially received by H.E. Vice President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur at a welcoming ceremony at the Flagstaff House on Saturday, 4th January, 2014.

Hon. Afriyie Ankrah added that “At the end of the relay in Ghana, it will have been carried by the Vice President of the Republic, the Speaker of Parliament, the Chief Justice, the Chief of Staff, 9 Ministers of State, 10 High Commissioners, 4 Paramount Chiefs, 30 CEO’s, 20 Top Sports Personalities, 70 current and former athletes and 200 children

He therefore called for massive public support as the Baton Relay, tours 2 regions and traverses 78 towns and villages across the country.

As part of its epic journey, the Glasgow 2014 Queen’s Baton Relay will traverse the length and breadth of the Commonwealth visiting all 71 nations of the Commonwealth covering 190,000 kilometres in 248 days. The baton will travel Asia, Oceania, Africa, Americas (south), the Caribbean, Americas (North) and Europe. The baton will then complete the final part of the journey in Scotland where the baton will spend a total of 40 days.

The Glasgow 2014 Queen’s Baton Relay will arrive in Ghana on the 3rd January 2014 from Sierra Leone, the Twenty Second country of its 71 Commonwealth destinations. Ghana will provide an integral link when it welcomes the baton as part of the most engaging relay in history.

Today, the baton is currently travelling through Vanuatu in the Asia Pacific and will arrive in Africa starting its relay in Sierra Leone on 1st January 2014.

The Queen’s Baton Relay is the traditional curtain raiser to the Commonwealth Games and has been an inclusion in the Games program since the Cardiff 1958 Commonwealth Games in Wales.

The Glasgow 2014 Queen’s Baton Relay began at Buckingham Palace on 9 October 2013, when Her Majesty the Queen handed over the baton to begin its relay around the globe.