The former First Lady, Mrs Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, on Sunday, joined other high profile dignitaries to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the dedication of the W.
E.B Du Bios Memorial Centre for Pan-African Culture.It was hosted by the W.E B Du Bois Museum Foundation, a non-governmental organisation under the theme "Du Bois Lives On: 40 Years, Four Generations, One Legacy."The W.E.B Du Bois Museum Foundation was the organisation that was currently working to redevelop and rebrand the W.E.B Du Bois Memorial Centre in Accra into a premier global institution and heritage site, in partnership with the government.The W.E.B Du Bois Memorial Centre for Pan-African Culture served as the final resting of the late Dr W.E.B Du Bois, a Pan-Africanism activist and his wife, Shirley Graham Du Bois.Speaking at the event, the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Mrs Dzifa Gomashie, in a speech read on her behalf by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), Mrs Maame Efua Houadjeto, said it was a privilege for the ministry to partner with the W.E.B Du Bois Museum Foundation to redevelop and rebrand the memorial centre.She described the late Dr Du Bois as a true Pan-Africanist who stood for justice and fairness and the emancipation of Africans in the United States pf America and beyond."May researchers and tourists from around the globe find more knowledge and renewed commitment to the struggle for freedom and justice here at the W.E.B Du Bois Memorial Centre for Pan-African Culture," Mrs Gomashie said.The Executive Director of the Jerry John Rawlings Foundation, Yaa Asantewaa Agyeman-Rawlings, said that the redevelopment and rebranding of the W.E.B Du Bois Memorial Centre for Pan-African Culture was a testament to Ghana's commitment to Pan-Africanism.Additionally, she said that the establishment of the memorial centre in 1985 by the late President Rawlings, represented an act of historical reclamation that affirmed Dr Du Bois as a peripheral figure that was at the heart of Ghana's identity."We at the J.J.
Rawlings Foundation shall do what we can to ensure that the memorial centre remains a vital hub for promoting Pan-Africanism, cultural exchange, and education," Yaa Asantewaa Agyeman-Rawlings said.The Executive Director of the W.E.B Du Bois Museum Foundation, Mr Japhet Aryiku, said that it was to raise US$ 100,000 to transform the W.E.B Du Bois Memorial Centre for Pan-African Culture into a stand alone library, a museum, a conference centre, art theatre, and a hostel."All the money that we are going to invest in here, there is no money going back anywhere.
It is not a loan.