By Apolinari Tairo
Published January 21, 2019
An African country that is dotted with dungeons and castles established during the slave trade is throughout 2019 commemorating the resilience of Africans forced into slavery by designating 2019 as ‘The Year of Return‘ for all Diaspora descendants of Africans who were captured and transported into the Americas as slaves in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Ghana’s President, Nana Akufo-Addo, whose timing is based on the first recorded landing of a ship carrying Africans in the United States of America’s Virginia state, says it is important to commemorate the existence and sacrifices the captured Africans made in North America 400 years later.
The “Year of Return, Ghana 2019” is aimed at giving millions of African descendants the opportunity to trace their ancestry and identity.
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Another factor influencing the Proclamation is the 115th US Congress Resolution (HR 1242) establishing the 400 Years African American History Commission to commemorate the anniversary.
Ghana is thus empowered to proceed with its intention to undertake activities throughout 2019, to mark the event.
Recalling Ghana’s early Pan African leadership role and pledging that “under my leadership, Ghana will continue to ensure that our hard-won Pan African reputation is not lost,” President Akufo-Addo says “Making Ghana the focus of activities to commemorate the landing of the first enslaved Africans in the English colonies in North America is, therefore, a huge opportunity to entrench Ghana’s leadership.”
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Akwasi Agyemang, the Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), says, “We open our arms even wider to welcome home our brothers and sisters in what will become a birthright journey home for the global African family.”
In 2000, Ghana passed legislation designed to make it easier for people from the African Diaspora to live and work in this African country. President Akufo-Addo has pledged to simplify the visa process.
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Tourism Minister Catherine Abelema Afeku is organising music and culture festivals, including Ghana independence celebrations in March this year including Panafest, a theatre festival aimed at bringing together Africans on the continent and those in the Diaspora to celebrate then discuss the issues of slavery.
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An eTurboNews article
