Tourism Minister inaugurates committee to steer this year’s NAFAC

By Godwill
Arthur-Mensah, GNA

Accra, July 17, GNA
– A 30-member National Planning Committee has been inaugurated by the Ministry
of Tourism, Arts and Culture, to plan activities for this year’s National
Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFAC) slated for November 16-24, in the Eastern
Regional Capital of Koforidua.

The theme for this
year’s celebration is: “Empowering the Youth through Culture, Tourism and Creative
Arts for Employment and Wealth Creation”, which is expected to showcase the
rich cultural heritage of the country.

Some of the
activities envisaged at the 2018 NAFAC include: public lectures, open fora,
exhibitions and cultural performances, as well as sporting events, performing
arts and traditional beauty pageant.

Addressing the
members of the Committee at the Inaugural Ceremony in Accra on Tuesday, Madam
Catherine Abelema Afeku, the Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, charged
them to bring their expertise to bear on the programme in order to guide and
steer it successfully.

Members of the
Committee were drawn from various public and private institutions with diverse
professional background including artistes, academics, legal luminaries and
traditional rulers.

The Minister
entreated the Committee to organise events that would resonate among the youth
and inculcate positive cultural values in them so as to promote national
development, unity and harmony.

She said the
festival was an avenue to take stock and dialogue extensively on the country’s
challenges, and explore ways of putting the youth back on track for employment
generation and wealth creation.

“The Planning
Committee has the mandate to put together programmes and activities that can
bring the theme to bear positively on the target beneficiaries so that eventually
we can boast of a society full of culturally alert youth,” the Minister stated.

Madam Afeku observed
that culture constituted the fulcrum of the existence of Ghanaians and, thus,
determined the basic necessities of lives of the people.

Therefore, there was
the need to preserve it for the present and the future generations.

Madam Edna Nyame,
the Executive Director of the National Commission on Culture, in her welcoming
address, said the festival’s scope and focus had been evolving over the years
depending on the economic and socio-cultural needs of the country.

She, therefore,
urged the Committee to come up with programmes and activities that would
effectively position tourism, arts and culture in the youth development agenda
of the nation.

“The festival is
therefore expected to create the enabling platform for stakeholders, industry
players, communities, and government to dialogue on diverse ways that can be
employed to create environment for job 
creation and instil in the youth our cultural values  and 
appreciation  and promotion of
the  Ghanaian culture and its
relevance  to our existence as a nation,”she
added.

Nana Adjoa Adobea
Asante, a Member of the Committee, on behalf of her colleagues, expressed
appreciation to the government for the confidence reposed in them, and gave the
assurance that they would do their best to ensure the success of the programme.

NAFAC, which is
celebrated biennially, has a long history dating back to 1967, and has become a
potent platform to showcase the country’s diverse cultural heritage, talents,
spirit of national identity and promoted peaceful co-existence among Ghanaians
of diverse ethnic background.

GNA

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