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Ghana and Britain to deepen cultural
links
Accra, Feb.15, GNA- Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama on
Thursday joined the visiting Deputy British Prime Minister,
Mr John Prescott, to kick-start a three- million pound
cultural relations programme between Ghana and Britain that
would span three years.
Dubbed: Africa 2007: A Celebration Of Culture and Identity"
is the brainchild of the British Council that would focus on
identity and culture, education, intercultural exchange and
dialogue among 11 African countries and the UK.
The three link themes of the programme: "Creative
Celebrations," "Different Lives" and "Footprints," would
engage young people, professionals, musicians and artists
from various backgrounds in exchange and other interactive
events.
Vice President Mahama said the multilateral programme would
offer the opportunity to young people from Africa and the UK
to interact and learn from each other and foster greater
mutual understanding.
" I applaud the British Council for its steadfast work in
Ghana and the rest of Africa and on this occasion for its
bold and wise decision to focus most of its Africa 2007
programme on young people, the future of any nation."
He said these international exchanges would enable the
beneficiaries to contribute to a foundation in their lives
that would enable them to make positive contributions in the
future to their communities, countries and in an
increasingly interconnected world to the global community.
Mr Prescott acknowledged the significance of Ghana's Golden
Jubilee celebrations this year, which he said symbolised the
first country in Africa to break from European colonisation.
He said 2007 would mark the 200th anniversary of the
Abolition of the Slave Trade Act passed in the UK.
Mr Prescott said the programme was linked to many activities
planned in the UK; Bristol, Hull, Liverpool and London, all
of which have strong historical links with the slave trade
and were marking the abolition of the slave trade.
On March 25, Reflections, part of the Africa 2007, would be
stage at Elmina Castle, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Mr Prescott said the event would be broadcasted to cities in
the UK, linking audiences and artists in commemoration.
He said his official interaction with children in Ghana had
revealed that they were very bright to uphold the
development of the country.
Mr Prescott lauded as brilliant, a question a pupil asked
him about the future of school children in Zimbabwe.
He acclaimed Ghana as the "Black Star" of Africa that was
still leading the way in the fight against slavery, poverty
and underdevelopment.
Mr Moses Anibaba, Director of British Council, Ghana, said
the bicentenary of the Act of Parliament to abolish the
slave trade across the then British empire ushered in a new
beginning: " A beginning of the reversal of one of the most
brutal and inhuman enterprises ever known to man."
"In Africa, the past does matter. It explains the present
and no nation can move forward without it."
Mr Anibaba said Africa 2007 hoped to demystify and challenge
age-old perceptions that Africa is forever dependent on the
UK and the West for its success and future.
GNA
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