Cape Coast, July 25, GNA- Vice President John Mahama, has called on African leaders and people of African descent in the Diaspora, to use the celebration of PANAFEST and Emancipation Day to defeat modern day slavery that is confronting Africa today.

He said the celebration should not only be used to create doors of rebirth or build bridges reconnecting Africans at home and those in the Diaspora but rather it should help showcase the vast culture and traditions= , as well as the good story of Africa.

Vice President made the call on Monday at the Akwaaba ceremony, held at the Jubilee Park in Cape Coast, as part of activities marking the nint= h edition of PANAFEST, under the theme 93Re-uniting the African Family: challenges and Prospects. The ceremony, which was attended by tradition rulers from all the 10 regions, District Chief Executives and Heads of Departments, was to welcome home some Africans in the Diaspora, numbering more than fifty. They were each marked with clay on their left hand to signify their homecoming and uniting with their African family.

The vice President regretted that Africa was still saddled with numerous problems such as poverty, illiteracy, hunger, disease and human trafficking, and tasked all African leaders to come out with pragmatic programmes that would ensure the total emancipation of Africa and to correc= t the horror of slave trade in the continent. Mr Mahama said the government of Ghana attaches much importance to the celebration of PANAFEST since it serves as a beacon of hope to the rest of the continent and stressed that, Ghana was the only country in Africa that had instituted a 93right of abode law", that allows people from the Dias= pora to return and claim legitimacy and called on other African countries to follow suit.

He said the government would continue to support the celebration of PANAFEST and asked the Ministry of Tourism and the PANAFEST Foundation to rebrand and renew national interest in the celebration of the event, as the festival marks its 20th anniversary next year.

Ms Akua Sena Dansua, Minister of Tourism said the celebration of PANAFEST and Emancipation gives the people the opportunity to soberly reflect on the inhuman treatment meted out to black people during the transatlantic slave trade and stressed that it also serves as a healing process since it celebrates the strength and resilience of the African culture and the achievements of Africans, in spite of the transatlantic slave trade and its aftermath.

"As we celebrate PANAFEST, Africans and people of Africa descent sho= uld become more committed to the emancipation of the entire African continent from slavery especially in areas where it still exists". On the benefits of tourism, the Minister said tourism continue to generate foreign exchange and revenue, boost micro-small and medium scale businesses, create employment for the youth and reduce poverty, particularl= y in communities where tourism sites are located, and stressed that her Ministry had resolved to develop Ghana's rich and diverse tourism product= s to become a catalyst for the rapid transformation of the Ghanaian economy. Ms Dansua pointed out that PANAFEST presents business and investment opportunities in various sub-sectors of the tourism industry, as well as other sectors of the Ghanaian economy, and encouraged people from the Diaspora, while retracing their roots, to also invest in Ghana.

She mentioned funding, aggressive marketing at home or target markets of America, Caribbean, Europe and Africa, as well as high plane and visa fares, as some of the challenges confronting PANAFEST celebration and gave the assurance that steps are being taken to curb the situation. Mr Alex Asum-Ahensah, Minister for Chieftaincy and Culture said Africans cannot continue to recount the atrocities suffered by their kith and kinds under the slave trade and that the challenge today is how to develop strategies for reconciliation between 93our people in the homeland and those in the Diaspora in order to heal the deep wounds and to achieve the desire of uniting the African family".

He said Ghana has over 250 paramountcies and several other chiefdoms that have opened their arms warmly to welcome 93our sisters and brothers i= n the Diaspora into their fold".

Mrs Ama Benyiwa Doe, Central Regional Minister, stressed that the celebration should be targeted at removing some of the misconceptions and negative publicity on the African people, 93indeed the celebration should strengthen our quest for emancipation of our people, politically, socially and economically," she added.

She urged the PANAFEST Foundation to remain committed to the noble aim= s upon which PANAFEST was founded that is to establish the truth about the history of Africa and the experience of its people, using the vehicle of arts and culture to provide a forum to promote unity between Africans on th= e motherland and those in the Diaspora.

Osabarimba Kwesi Atta II, Omanhen of Oguaa traditional area, who presided, called for true unity between Africans in the motherland and those in the Diaspora, stressing that 93in unity we stand and divided we fall", and urged all to ensure total liberation of the continent from all forms of slavery , disease, poverty, hunger, weapon of destruction and illiteracy.