Paga Youth Movement calls for economic justice, redevelopment of tourists sites at Panafest 2025
The group urged government and stakeholders to invest in the construction of a museum and a research centre at the Camp to promote Ghana’s slave trade history, and preserve historical artifacts, oral accounts, and slave trade narratives, and support the documentation of historical events.
The Paga Youth Movement (PAYOM) has in strong terms condemned the growing culture of bribery and extortion in Ghana’s job recruitment processes, describing it as a modern form of economic slavery that continues to suppress the hopes and potential of young people.
Speaking during the 2025 Panafest and Emancipation Day celebration on Saturday, July 19, at the historic Pikworo Slave Camp in Paga, PAYOM Chairperson Aborah Wenawome linked the festival’s theme, “Let Us Speak of Reparative Justice – Pan African Artistic Activism,” to the contemporary struggles faced by today’s youth.
“The call for justice must not be confined only to the brutalities and injustices of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Today, young people continue to face new forms of injustices; systemic unemployment, bribery and extortion in the job market, and deliberate suppression of opportunity”
“The frustrations of a graduate who must pay bribes or secure loans to access a job they are qualified for is a modern form of economic slavery.” Wenawome stated.
The Movement also used the occasion advocate for the redevelopment of the Pikworo Slave Camp and the enhancement of tourism infrastructure in the Upper East Region. The group urged government and stakeholders to invest in the construction of a museum and a research centre at the Camp to promote Ghana’s slave trade history, and preserve historical artifacts, oral accounts, and slave trade narratives, and support the documentation of historical events.
“We must not only remember our past, but we must also preserve it. The stories of our ancestors must be told, researched, and passed down,” Wenawome added.
Beyond advocacy for historical preservation, the group also shared light on pressing development needs in the region, including the establishment of a skilled training institute in the Upper East Region to tackle unemployment, completion of the Agenda 111 hospital project in Paga, and the resolution of persistent water challenges in the Paga township.
The Movement further called for the reconstruction of the Paga Senior High School girls’ dormitory, which was destroyed by fire in 2021.
The Movement expressed appreciation to development partners, particularly the African diaspora, for their continued support, including the provision of boreholes in several communities.
The 2025 Panafest, celebrated at the Pikworo Slave Camp, was organised by the Ghana Tourism Authority in collaboration with the Upper East Regional Coordinating Council, the Regional House of Chiefs, PAYOM, and other cultural stakeholders. The event drew hundreds from across Ghana and the diaspora and featured traditional performances, speeches, and reflections on Africa’s past and future.
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