Minister urges unity of Africans for development

Assin-Manso (C/R), Aug 2, GNA - Alhaji Abubakar Saddique Boniface, Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, on Wednesday called on Africans, including those in the Diaspora to use the celebration of Emancipation Day and PANAFEST as vehicles to pull the African race together towards the continent's development.

He observed that this could be achieved if Africans are able to change the tragedy of the slave trade into opportunities that would lead to real emancipation in the homeland and elsewhere in the world. Alhaji Abubakar made the call at durbar of chiefs organised to mark this year's Emancipation Day at Assin-Manso in the Central Region. It was under the theme: "Emancipation, our Heritage our Strength". Participants, included delegates from Nigeria, South Africa, Botswana, Cameroon, Barbados, Surinam, Virgin Island, the Caribbean, Jamaica and United States.

Alhaji Saddique said until Africans adopted their own "African personality", which recognizes them everywhere as one people, there was nothing that their governments will do that will lead to sustainable growth.

He said the government of Ghana was committed to facilitating the return of "brothers in the Diaspora" through the Joseph project to enable them know their roots and their history. "The moment of truth has finally come for Africans to re-write their own history and go back to their roots," he reiterated and called for "spirit of tolerance and accommodation of one another". "It may take us a long time to adjust but let us use the opportunities created by Emancipation day and the Joseph project to know more about ourselves and learn to become brothers and sisters in the real sense," he added.

Mr Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, former Minister of Tourism and Diasporan Relations, lauded the large Diaspora representation at this year's celebration and said it was a sign of many good things to happen. He suggested that they find time to interact with the local communities as part of the process of learning about their past and also bridging the gap between them after long separation. Barima Kwame Nkyi XII, Omanhen of the Assin Manso, tasked African scholars to re-write the continent's history to bring out the facts about the slave trade.

Respective representatives laid wreaths on the tombs of enslaved ancestors, including, Crystal, a Jamaican, and Samuel Carson, from the US, whose remains were re-interred at Assin Manso in 1998. The delegates also visited the Donkor Nsuo "Slave river" where slaves reportedly had their last bath before they were conveyed to the Elmina Castle to be shipped.