Emancipation Day Celebration, a call for Africans to fight against slavery

Assin Manso (C/R), Aug. 2, GNA - Mr James Agyenim Boateng, Deputy Minister of Tourism, has said the annual celebration of Emancipation Day is a call for people of African descent to rise and fight against discrimination and all forms of slavery.

At a colourful durbar of chiefs to mark the Day, Mr Agyenim Boateng called on all Africans to unite in solidarity to defend the freedom bequeathed to them by the toil and blood of their forefathers. Emancipation Day is celebrated annually at Assin Manso in the Central Region, to commemorate the end of the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade some 174 years ago, which led to the transportation of over 100,000 people annually to the Americas and the Caribbean.

Assin Manso had been chosen for the celebration due to its historical importance as the stop over where slaves from the north had their last bath in the 93nnkonsuo" -the slave-river before being taken to the Cape Coast= and Elmina castles for onward shipment. The theme for this year's celebration which was patronized by a larg= e number of people from the Diaspora is: 93Reuniting the African family: challenges and prospects". Mr Agyenim Boateng said the slave trade was a harrowing experience of our past and added that the celebration was not to open fresh wounds but to enable all people of African descent to soberly reflect on how to pool thei= r resources together for their mutual benefit. He said despite the UN protocol against human trafficking, millions of victims, particularly children were being made vulnerable by poverty, deprivation and the deplorable conditions under which they live and work. He appealed to all peace loving people of the world to come together t= o create a better future for the youth and added that Ghana had paved the way by re-emphasizing the need for all people of African descent to join those at home to help put the continent in its rightful place as the centre of civilization.

Monica Regisford Douglin, the leader of the team from Trinidad and Tobago and Reverend Dr Marlene Hill, the leader of the Diaspora, took turns to address the people and said as survivors they would share experiences fo= r the mutual benefit of all.

Barima Kwame Nkyi XII, the paramount chief of Assin Apimanim Traditional Area, who presided over the function, repeated calls for an end to all forms of slavery and discrimination in the world.