Accra, Aug 3, GNA - Mr. Wayn Hamilton, Chief Executive Officer, Africa Nova Scotia Affairs on Friday urged Ghanaians to take charge of their country's development and should not abandon it to foreigners. He said if Ghanaians continued to rely on foreign investment for their development, the country would one day be taken over by those foreigners, who would relegate the Ghanaians to the background. "Ghana should not develop without the Ghanaian involvement because that would be a recipe for disaster as happened to our forefathers in the America," he told a press conference in Accra.

The press conference was to let the people from the Diaspora interact with members of the press, telling them about the feelings they had from participating in the Emancipation Day celebrations, Panafest and the Joseph Project launch, which took off on July 19th 2007. The three festivals that are running concurrently are aimed at providing a forum to promote unity between Africans on the Continent and in the Diaspora.

Mr Hamilton said Ghana's invitation to the Diasporians to make the return journey to reconnect with the land of their ancestors and their brothers and sisters in the homeland was a very welcomed initiative. "Connecting to Africa is what we can do to build the linkages needed for the building up the continent," he said.

Mr. Maurice A. Donovan, Jr. of the Virgins Island praised the government for initiating the Joseph Project saying it was the first time that such project was being undertaken would provide for people of African descent to make contributions towards the development of the Continent.

He said with the warm reception that was accorded the Diasporians the team would take the news back home and entice more people in the Diaspora to visit Ghana during the subsequent festivals.

"Ghana has been a beacon of hope to many blacks in the Diaspora since 1957 when she attained her independence and 50 years down the line we still have hope of a place that we can come to and call home", he said.

Ms Earna W. Terefe-Kassa, a Diasporan who had already settled in Ghana, said in her search for a place that she could call home, she made 18 different trips from America, visiting 77 different locations over a period of 27 years until she decided to settle in Ghana. "I have already built my house in Ghana and I hope to resettle here fully when I go on pension," she said.

Ms Terefe-Kassa said racism was still alive in America as it was during the era of slavery, adding that most blacks were still being discriminated against.