Reinforce the bonds of solidarity with the new world – President

Cape Coast, July 28, GNA – President Nana
Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo called on Ghanaians and the African community to
leverage on PAPAFEST / Emancipation Day celebrations and "year of return"
strengthen ties of solidarity with the new world.

He said that events, which are a chronicle of
the most barbaric episodes in human history deserved to be commemorated because
they prove the strengths and resilience of African culture and the achievements of
Africans regardless of the transatlantic slave trade and its consequences.

S addressing a great durbar of chefs and
the people of the central region to officially open the PANAFEST / Emancipation 2019
Cape Coast Day Celebrations Saturday, President Called African Countries
people to make a resolution never to afford to be subjected to such
inhuman treatment again.

This year's celebration is taking place in the context of
the theme: "Unite the African Family" with "Beyond 400: Achieving
continents in the future "is the sub-theme.

The event was a show of master of culture,
custom and the best of African tradition as supreme leaders of the region ridden
in beautifully designed palanquines and adorned with rich traditional insignia like
they embarked on a royal procession from Abura to Durbar lands at New
Cape Coast Sports Stadium.

PANAFEST was mentioned in the mid-1980s as
cultural vehicle to get Africans at home and abroad to work together to
obstacles to the growth of the continent and its
people.

Similarly, the commemoration of
Emancipation Day was introduced in Ghana in 1998 and celebrated on August 1st.
each year to mark the abolition of slavery of movable property in the Caribbean and
beyond.

President Akufo Addo called on the population of
African descent to demonstrate his continued commitment to the course of
Pan-Africanism, adding that the celebrations offered an ideal platform for
reaffirm clearly the fate of all blacks.

Ms. Babara Oteng-Gyasi, Minister of Tourism,
Creative Arts and Culture, said that the celebration of PANAFEST / Emancipation should
to be a clear call to all Africans and people of African descent to commit to
the emancipation of the African continent from slavery and engage in it significantly
in the development of the continent.

She said that PANAFEST has evolved over the years
cultural event that promoted unity, pan-Africanism and the development of
Ghana and Africa as a whole.

Ms. Oteng-Gyasi said that the celebrations
gave Africans in the diaspora the opportunity to trace their roots
their homeland using Ghana as a gateway.

She said that the government was committed to
development of the tourism sector, adding that the Ministry's determination to
The rich and diverse products of Ghana's tourism, arts and culture are based on the fact that
tourism potential, if properly exploited, could be the catalyst for
transformation of the Ghanaian economy.

She called on all stakeholders, including
MMDAs, traditional authorities, the media and the private sector are working together to
Ministry and its allied agencies to support PANAFEST celebrations / Emancipation Day.

Ms. Oteng-Gyasi urged Africans to
The diaspora takes the opportunity to explore the business world
opportunities in the country.

Professor Esi Sutherland-Addy, President
of the PANAFEST Foundation Board of Directors, stressed the need to develop the
the ownership and participation of the communities that the celebration served.

She also called on the government and all
Stakeholders to continue to provide the necessary support to PANAFEST /
Activities of celebration of the day of emancipation.

Dasebre Kwebu Ewusi VII, Omanhen of Abeadze
Dominase and Vice President of the National House of Chiefs, invited Africans
look beyond that and build fruitful synergies for more sustainable development of
the continent.

He urged the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA)
enjoy the year of return to turn Ghana's tourism fortune into a
an economic gain.

Nana Amba Eyiaba I, queen mother of Efutu
and Kontihenmaa of the traditional Oguaa area, performed the symbolic rites of a
new beginning to usher in the brothers and sisters of the diaspora in the
Ghanaian community.

GNA