This is to help whip up enthusiasm in paragliding among Ghanaians.

The sector Minister, Mrs. Catherine Abelema Afeku announced this at the 13th paragliding festival held at Atibie in the Kwahu South District in the Eastern Region.

The festival attracted 12 pilots from the United States of America, Japan, Romania, Ghana, Peru and Switzerland.

Mrs. Afeku urged aviation sports enthusiasts to take advantage of the school to enable them train as future pilots in paragliding which has over 400,000 pilots globally.

She was happy that the take-off area at Atibie has been expanded to accommodate more flights instead of one at a time.

Permanent canopies and wash rooms which hitherto were absent have been provided for the comfort of patrons.

She thanked the pilots for continually keeping faith with Ghana in an attempt to develop paragliding.

She paid tribute to all those who have helped to make the festival a permanent one as part of the Kwahu Easter festivities.

The Eastern Regional Minister, Mr. Eric Kwakye Dafour was grateful to the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Arts and the Ghana Tourism Authority for bringing the paragliding festival to the Kwahu area.

He was however not happy that there were only few Ghanaian pilots taking part in the festival.

The Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), Mr. Akwasi Agyeman said the festival has given a new face and dimension to the celebration of Easter in Kwahu and witnessed an increased number of patrons over the years thus boosting domestic tourism in the area thereby creating jobs and improving the local economy.

He gave the assurance that the GTA would continue to develop and promote Ghana as a preferred destination with unique events and site attractions

Paragliding

The Ministry of Tourism introduced paragliding in Ghana in April 2005 during at Atibie.

It was organised to coincide with the Easter festivity that year on the Odweanoma Mountain. With the exception of 2009 the paragliding festival has been organised every year.

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Source: Graphic Online

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In an interview with Citi News at the grand opening of this year’s Kwahu Easter Paragliding Festival, the Minister of Tourism Arts and Culture, Catherine Afeku, said the training school will help nurture prospective pilots.

“We are in talks to establish the pilot training school to help nurture indigenous people, you know there are a lot of Ghanaians interested in learning so we have spoken to the pilots from USA who have agreed to train our local people. Three of the pilots have their own schools in USA so it won’t be difficult.”

Madame Afeku added that, the youth who will go through the training will get jobs as well, adding that “our youth who will have the chance to be trained in this program will also be employed and this will reduce the unemployment rate in the country. We turn to have a lot of foreign nationals who visit the country day in day out, and not only during Easter, so this will also boost the tourism sector and bring foreign exchange”.

She added that, the initiative will be a legacy the Akufo-Addo government wants to leave behind.

“The establishment of the school will be a thing Ghanaians especially people of Kwahu will forever be grateful for and this will be one of President Nana Addo’s legacies,” she said.

On his part, the Eastern Regional Minister, Eric Kwakye Darfour, who was also at the opening ceremony. shared his excitement with Citi News.

He said “the people of Kwahu will always welcome people from all shades of life to come and experience how Easter is well celebrated in the world, Kwahu is Easter and Easter is Kwahu, you cannot enjoy the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus without coming to Kwahu.”

The Director of Ghana AIDS Commission in the Eastern Region, Madame Golda Asante, in an interview with Citi News also encouraged patrons to take advantage of the celebration and know their status.

She said “we are having a free Aids screening and counselling for everyone here in Kwahu, so we are urging everybody here to cease this opportunity to know his or her status before they leave here. We always advice that when you know your status you then take precautionary measures to live .”

She also advised the youth to abstain from unplanned sexual activities, “my advice to youth is that they should try and abstain from any sexual act and stick to their books, but they should also be guided to use the condom to avoid contracting infections and pregnancy.”

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By: Neil Nii Amatey Kanarku/ citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Ghana to have paragliding school soon – Tourism Minister appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

She was accompanied by the Eastern Regional Minister, Eric Kwakye Darfour, and the Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Otiko Djaba.

The paragliding festival was introduced more than a decade ago to promote tourism in the country, and also to spice up the Easter celebrations in Kwahu.

Thousands of people throng Kwahu annually to celebrate the Easter festivity.

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By: Neil Nii Amatey Kanarku/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post 2017 Kwahu Easter Paragliding festival launched [Photos]    appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.