GHANA YOUTH DAY CELEBRATED IN LONDON

Prof. Kwaku Danso-Boafo, Ghana's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has asked Ghanaians and children of Ghanaian descent in the United Kingdom to be proud they are Ghanaians because they come from a great country.

“Be proud you are a Ghanaian because we are the only country which was named after her natural resources, Gold, because when the British colonialists came they found so much Gold, they could not call us by any other name than the Gold Coast; that we produced the Greatest African of the 21st century, Kwame Nkrumah; the first African president of the United Nations General Assembly, Dr. Alex Quaison Sackey, the first African UN Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan” he said, adding “we have a great history.

Prof. Danso-Boafo, who was delivering his keynote address at the opening of this year's Ghana Youth Day celebration under the theme, “Our Youth, Our Society, Our Future” in London last Saturday, October 6, reminded the youngsters that Ghana was the first country south of the Sahara to attain independence from the British and used her freedom to assist other African countries to also attain independence. The event was attended by over one thousand young people and their parents, a member of the UK Parliament, Mr. David Lammy, Ms. Rosalind Kainyah, Vice-President for External Affairs, Tullow Oil, and Mr. Hugh Quarshie, a prominent Ghanaian actor.

“This is why Ghana has a great history for which reason you the Youth must be proud to be Ghanaians”, he said. He advised them not to waste their lives but try to emulate the examples set by Lord Paul Boateng of the UK House of Lords, Messrs. Sam Gyimah, Adams Afriyie, and Kwarteng, all Members of the UK House of Commons.

Two years ago, His Excellency said, the Ghanaian Community was confronted with the problems of delinquency, resulting in knife and gun crimes which claimed the lives of some of the youth with some also ending up in prisons.

The Ghana High Commission and the Ghana Union, he said, decided to take steps to immediately find a solution to the senseless killings of Ghanaian youths and declared the first Saturday of every October as Ghana Youth Day.

The Day is to bring young people, mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters together to dialogue, interact, talk to each other by bringing in resources persons like Psychologists, Sociologists, Teachers and Educationists and all other individuals who could help bring an end to the tragedies that the Ghanaian Community faced, Prof. Danso-Boafo said.

The High Commissioner informed the youth that the High Commission, together with The Knowledge Channel, organises free courses in resume writing, interviewing skills, and remedial courses for students in the summer at the Highgate offices.

Every Ghanaian life, he said, is important to the Ghana government and the High Commission and appealed to the youth saying “as a people we must cooperate, work, and live together because we cannot afford to lose any more lives”.

The Ghana Youth Day has come to stay, as long as he remained the High Commissioner, Prof. Danso-Boafo assured the youth and assured the gathering that the celebration will be institutionalised. Several notable Ghanaian achievers including Mr. Tutu Agyare were recognised.

The High Commissioner expressed his appreciation to Tullow Oil Plc, the main sponsor of the event, the resource persons and members of the Committee who put the event together.

The Chairman of the Planning Committee, Mr Kobby Kuma-Mensa, welcoming the youth asked them not to take the event for granted but should ensure that the Day benefitted them by taking something with them when they leave for their various homes.

Mr. Kuma-Mensa reminded the youth that success in life is possible for all without necessarily resorting to violence as some of their colleagues unfortunately have not understood and have decided to engage in gang war fare for fame and respect among their peers.

Information Section
Ghana High Commission
London.