Ghanaians are celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of their independence this year.On March 6, 1957, Ghana became the first African country south of the Sahara to become independent. The theme for the anniversary is “Championing African Excellence.” Ghana’s first president, Kwame Nkrumah, envisioned the country as the guiding light of African independence and solidarity, the “Black Star” of Africa. To conclude our series on Ghana’s fiftieth anniversary, we turn our attention to the various activities lined up for the celebration. 
Kwame Bawuah-Edusei is Ghana’s ambassador to the United States, based here in Washington D.C. He tells reporter Peter Clottey more about the activities planned for the fiftieth independence anniversary celebration.
“Fifty years is a formidable point for any nation and we are very proud that we’ve been able to achieve it. In Ghana, it’s a yearlong celebration. Every month has a theme: we started with reflections in January, emancipation in February…. Then on the day of independence, which is 6th March, we will have a three-day celebration starting from the fifth to the seventh. Then we would have an official lunch in honor of the president of Nigeria and other heads of state,” he said.
Ambassador Bawuah-Edusei outlines some of the activities planned for the anniversary celebration. “Now at the embassy here in Washington, DC, our theme would be economic emancipation, because as Diasporans, we need to see how much we can contribute. All the major metro areas in the USA will be celebrating…. We are also adding business promotion because we are also looking at the AGOA (African Growth and Opportunity Act) Forum in July, where all the American businessmen will be in Ghana with all African businessmen to network to create jobs and also support the AGOA forum,” he said.