Accra, July 19, GNA - The Annual Wreath-Laying ceremony in honour of three Pan-Africanists was performed on Thursday as part of this year's celebration of Emancipation/PANAFEST and the Joseph Project. The ceremony, which is usually done to officially start the celebrations, had a unique addition this year with the arrival of a flame dubbed: "Unity Flame", which is to signify unity between Africans living on the continent and those in the Diaspora

The Unity Flame, which was lighted early in the morning at the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park was taken through some principal streets of Accra before arriving at the durbar grounds where it was officially handed over to Mr. Samson Kwaku Boafo, Minister of Culture and Chieftaincy Affairs.

The flame would be taken round all regional centres where the Emancipation/PANAFEST/Joseph project durbars would be held. At the George Padmore Library, the perpetual flame was lighted by Mr. Maurice Donavan from the Virgin Islands to rekindle the spirit of Pan-Africanism.

Seven wreaths were laid on behalf of the Government of Ghana, traditional rulers, African-American Association of Ghana, Caribbean Association of Ghana, Canadian Association, Youth of Ghana and the US Virgin Islands in memory of Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana's first President, George Padmore and William Edward Burghardt Du Bois, all Pan- Africanists and believers in the Black race.

Those who attended the wreath laying ceremony wore black or red cloth to signify a period of mourning and were treated to cultural display by the Ghana Dance Ensemble.

The Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA) led by Alhaji Siddiqueku Buari and Diana Akwiumi also launched a song for the Joseph Project to enlighten Ghanaians about the project.

Alhaji Buari said MUSIGA took pride in making a contribution to the Joseph Project and that was why they composed a highlife tune with the message of the Project as their support. As part of the occasion, the crowd danced to the tune of the song when the Unity Flame arrived at the durbar grounds. Mr Boafo, who was Guest of Honour, noted that there was the need to create systems that would enable sovereign nations to effectively collaborate to dismantle all sorts of slavery to bring back the needed freedom that mankind cherished.

"Ghana observes Emancipation Day every year in solidarity with peoples of African descent and also to remember our brothers and sisters who were forcibly taken away from their motherland with no hope of ever returning."

Mr. Boafo noted that the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade provided the worst forms of human mistreatment and cruelty ever recorded in human history.

The occasion, he said, should afford Africans on the continent and those in the Diaspora the opportunity to ponder on the recourse to enslavement, the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and virtual pervasive slavery as a pattern of life.

"Never again should any such form of human atrocity, indignity and crime against humanity be allowed on planet earth. Never again." Mr Boafo said for Ghanaians the occasion of Emancipation gave credence to the country's claim of being the gateway to the homeland.