Sunyani, Mar. 6, GNA - More than 1,500 selected students and pupils in the Sunyani municipality on Saturday converged at the Kwame Nkrumah Jubil= ee Park in Sunyani to mark the 53rd anniversary celebration of Ghana's Independence. Twenty eight primary, 25 Junior High and nine Senior High Schools provided the marching army for the day.

Service commanders, heads of departments and agencies as well as traditional rulers and teachers also observed the occasion. Mr. Kwadwo Nyamekye-Marfo, Brong-Ahafo Regional Minister, inspected a parade mounted by cadets from the Twene Amanfo Technical Senior High, St.=

James Seminary Senior High and Sunyani Senior High Schools as well as the=

Sunyani Polytechnic.

Mr. Nyamekye-Marfo said various personalities including kings and leaders of the then Gold Coast and three soldiers ex-soldiers; Sergeant Adjetey, Corporal Attipoe, Private Nii Odartey Lamptey, had played crucia= l roles, defying all odds to fight for the liberation of Ghana. He said they succeeded in their mission by throwing out the colonial=

yoke of subjugation, exploitation, dehumanization and humiliation of Africans perpetuated by European colonialists and slave traders.

Mr. Nyamekye-Marfo told the school children that it was their heroic=

feats that ignited the flames of a sustained struggle that led to Ghana's=

eventual liberation from more than a century of foreign domination. "In celebrating today, it is therefore befitting and proper that we doff our hats to those great sons and daughters of our beloved country wh= o fought and died or sacrificed their personal comfort and liberty for the freedom and dignity of Ghanaians, Africans and indeed all people of Afric= an decent everywhere", he stated. Touching on the theme of this year's celebration: "investing in the youth for better Ghana", the Regional Minister said the youth constituted=

the cornerstone of the development of any nation.

Mr. Nyamekye-Marfo said it was in the light of this reality that any=

nation that reneged on the development of the youth, was neither fair to itself nor worth its status of a sovereign state.

He said through direct government policy and intervention, a sizeabl= e number of Ghanaian pupils and students had benefited from bursaries to complete their respective academic programmes, while others were enjoying=

free tuition, free feeding as well as supply of the free school uniforms and exercise books.

He noted that the greatest of every development-inclined nation was its youth because, apart from being the future leaders, they constituted potential future workforce needed for economic development. Mr. Nyamekye-Marfo said public education and youth sensitization against the use of drugs, especially narcotics, sexual promiscuity, teena= ge pregnancy, illegal abortion, armed robbery and other forms of organized crime, cyber crime and other social vices were being given the needed attention to avert a national disaster. The success of this fight depended on the concerted effort of all stakeholders, he stated, and appealed to district assemblies, traditional=

authorities, teachers, Non-Governmental Organizations and religious bodie= s to deepen awareness on the far-reaching adverse consequences of such devi= ant behaviour on the individual, society and the nation at large. After the march past, Sunyani Senior High, St. James Seminary and Senior High and Twene Amanfo Technical Senior High School were presented with prizes including sets of jerseys, footballs, wall clocks and certificates for their impressive performances.

St. Mary's Preparatory Junior High, Sacred Heart Junior High and Apostolic Junior High Schools as well as the Three Garrison primary, Ebenezer Presbyterian Primary and Sacred Heart Primary Schools also recei= ved prizes.