Accra, July 01, GNA – Madam Esi Sutherland-Addy, Chairperson for the PANAFEST Foundation, has urged Ghanaians to protect and maintain natural resources of the country for the benefit of future generations.

She noted that Ghana had rich natural resources and challenged the populace to take good care of the resources for posterity.

Madam Sutherland-Addy said this at the launch of the 2022 Emancipation Day Celebration in Accra.

The theme for this year’s Emancipation Day Celebrations is “Emancipation, Our Heritage, Our Strength” with the Sub-theme “Re-engaging to consolidate our Developmental Agenda.”

She said emancipation was not a one-day event and could not be fully achieved unless problems caused by race and ethnicity as Africans and Black people were addressed.

She noted that the kind of emancipation Ghanaians needed presently was not from the chains on their bodies but their minds – moving away from being dependent on others.

Mr Ekow Sampson, Deputy Chief Executive Operations for the Ghana Tourism Authority, said for the theme of this year’s Emancipation Day to be achieved, there was the need for “sincere peace” between all Africans.

He said retaliation, suspicion, blame, and mutual mistrust between the African Diaspora and those on the continent would serve to continue the exploitation of Black people despite the terrible realities of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and its effects.

He added that Ghanaians had to fight for complete liberation saying, “that liberation must come in the form of economic emancipation and further social evolution.”

He emphasised that it was necessary to globalise Emancipation Day and that Africans home and abroad had to be motivated to understand the essence.

Mr Sampson added that it was essential for everybody to gather on August 1st every year to express gratitude and honour to the “great ancestors” who played significant roles in the emancipation process.

He said the demonstration of a bloody spirit, tenacity, purpose, and understanding of emancipation by the ancestors, paved the way for Ghanaians to come thus far.

“Let’s let their sweat, blood, and tears continue to shape our lives as we get ready to face the challenges that lie ahead,” he said.

GNA