Accra, Feb. 15, GNA- Vice President Alhaji Mahama and the visiting UNESCO Director-General Mr Koichiro Matsuura, on Thursday cut the sod for the commencement of a monument in memory of those who lost their lives during the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.

The event, which was witnessed by the visiting Mr John Prescott, Deputy Prime Minister of Britain and chiefs and traditional elders in Accra, took place at the Osu Castle amidst the pouring of libation, drumming and dancing.

Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama said it was heart-warming that 200 years after the abolition of the slave trade a monument was been erected in memory of those who died through the darkest periods of Africa.

He said "Today we are breaking the grounds to erect a monument that befits the memory of our lost kith and kin. A monument that one can see from afar, a monument that will elicit hope for generations today and the future."

Alhaji Mahama noted that the slave trade had not been highlighted, as it should have been, apparently because the world wanted to forget its sordid past.

He said "The loss of vital human resource and its impact on the development of Africa however remains a reality that cannot be wished away.

"The acknowledgement of this indelible past should give us the opportunity to convert its negative impact into a positive opportunity for the development of all African countries." Vice President Mahama commended UNESCO for instituting the Slave Route Project since 1998.

"Under the Slave Route Project, UNESCO has sought to intensify the search for the truth about what actually happened during the 400 years of the infamous trade, " he said.

Mr Koichiro recalled his duty tour in Ghana in the 1960's when he was working in the Japanese Mission and interacted with the country's first President, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah a number of times. He said he also facilitated the development process of the country leading to the establishment of the Noguchi Research Institute at the University of Ghana, Legon.

Nogochi was a Japanese researcher who died while he was researching into yellow fever.

Mr Koichiro commended steps taken by the British Parliament to abolish slave trade as well as the shipment of slaves.