Asougyaman (E/R), July 26, GNA - Ghana has a policy of reuniting the African Family all over the world, Mr Obetsebi-Lamptey, Minister of Tourism and Diasporean Relations, said on Wednesday at a ceremony organised as a prelude to this year's Emancipation Day.
Addressing a durbar at Asuogyaman in the Eastern Region to welcome delegates from the United States Virgin Islands, who are in the country to participate in this year's Emancipation Day activities, Mr Obetsebi-Lamptey said: "We need an Africa that will be able to support a truly emancipated people.
=93Africans in the Diaspora must come back to till their own vineyards instead of tilling that of others."
The Day is on the theme: "Our Heritage, Our Strength." Mr Obetsebi-Lamptey said there was the need to educate people in the homeland about the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade hence the "Akwaaba Anyemi" programme, which the Ministry had started as part of the "Joseph Project".
The Akwaaba Anyemi is a programme that sought to educate people to refer to Africans in the Diaspora as Anyemi or Onnua, which means brothers and sisters instead of calling them "Obroni" or white man or white woman.
Mr Kofi Osei-Ameyaw, Member of Parliament for Asuogyaman, said the emancipation process brought freedom and a search for one's root and called on the Virgin Islands delegation to feel at home. He noted that the Akwamu area should be remembered as one of the formidable States in the then Gold Coast.
"Its history is evident by the many successful wars of expansion and survival. The exploit of one of her historical and significant Chiefs Nana Kwamina Asamani at Osu Castle against the then colonial masters, the Danes, had a semblance of first and well crafted coup d' etat on the shores of the Gold Coast," he said.
Mr Osei-Ameyaw said there was a vast investment potential in agriculture, tourism and hospitality industries and invited the Diasporeans to invest in those sectors.
Mr Shelley Moorhead, President of the African Caribbean Reparation and Restoration Alliance (ACRRA), said they were in Ghana to repair and restore the family.
He said there must have been something wrong with their families during the slave trade era, adding: "We were your brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles and friends. There must have been something wrong.=94 Dr Carlyle Corbin, Minister of State for External Affairs in the United States Virgin Islands, said his government was prepared to assist in the development of the tourism industry in Ghana.
He led the group to present gifts to the Nana Osae Nyanpong, Kamenahene of Akwamu, who chaired the function, and invited him to the Virgin Islands next year to join in the celebration of the Akwamu Festival, held on the Islands every 25th November.
Mr Ntow Bediako, District Chief Executive of the Area, urged the Diasporeans to join the District Assembly and other strategic investors to invest in the area together.
He promised to make things comfortable and smooth for investors to enhance development in the District.
"We are prepared to dialogue with the Government to grant you some tax holidays and exempt you from the payment of certain taxes should you decide to invest in the District," he said. The Akwamu Traditional Council presented the visitors with gifts. 26 July 06
