This yr’s Heritage Month celebration was yesterday launched in Accra with a name on the citizenry to endeavour and protect the nation’s tradition, customs and traditions.
Organised by the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), the occasion marked the start of a month-long programme to point outcase the varied cultures of the assorted areas within the nation.
Talking on the launch, the appearing Chief Govt Officer of GTA, Maame Efua Houadjeto, emphasised the necessity for the residents to understand the range of the nation’s cultures, customs and traditions as a method of reclaiming the pleasure and dignity as Ghanaians.
Heritage, she underlined, was a supply of id and cohesion for this nation because it outlined and formed who the individuals had been.
“Heritage offers us a way of belonging. It’s the inheritance handed down from era to era, linking the current to the previous. Heritage doesn’t solely discover expression in clothes, meals, music, artwork, and language,” she defined.
To advertise the Ghanaian culture, Ms Houadjeto urged tourism enterprises, tour operators, and musicians to show native meals and drinks, to teach guests about Ghana’s heritage, and to advertise native music respectively.
Additionally, she inspired Ghanaians to put on native textiles and in addition help the humanities and crafts trade.
Ms Houadjeto reiterated the necessity for all to put on Ghana customs, particularly on this month in all kinds to spice up the native textile trade and the humanities centre.
This, she elaborated, would assist create extra revenue for the quite a few gross sales and native prints and materials on show with a purpose to enhance the nation’s economic system.
The Director of the Black Star Expertise, Workplace of the President, Mr Rex Omar, mentioned the occasion marked a major second within the nationwide calendar saying it was the time to rejoice, replicate and honour the wealthy tapestry of our tradition, historical past and traditions that defines Ghanaians.
This yr’s heritage month, he talked about, was not only a celebration of the previous however a name to motion for the current and the long run.
He additionally used the chance to ask worldwide mates to go to and discover the Black Star expertise, saying, “Your presence and help enriches this celebration and strengthen the bonds between our nations.”
Mr Omar counseled all of the people who’ve labored tirelessly to make the occasion a hit, particularly the sector ministry of tourism, artistic arts and tradition led the sector Minister, Abla Dzifa Gomashie, the CEO of GTA, Maame Efua Houadjeto, and her deputies, and the complete workforce of GTA.
“Allow us to march ahead together, rejoice our previous, embrace our current, and construct sooner or later that honours the legacy of our ancestors. Thanks very a lot”, he added.
For his half, the Director of Diasporan Affairs, Kofi Okyere Darko, in a press release, lauded the president, Mr John Dramani Mahama, for initiating the Black Star Expertise.
Furthermore, he famous that his outfit in collaboration with the Ministry of Overseas Affairs had inspired Ghanaian missions overseas to put on made-in-Ghana apparel all through the month.
Moreover, he mentioned that his workplace had additionally urged households within the diaspora to share tales about Ghana with their youngsters and to teach these aspiring to change into Ghanaians concerning the nation’s tradition and heritage.
BY CYNTHIA ASAMPANA
