By Yunus S Saliu
The Kunta Kinteh Foundation on Friday, 17th May endorsed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the National Centre for Arts and Culture to promote cultural heritage in the country and also to carry out the revival and development of couture in The Gambia.
The signing of the MOU was held at the National Centre for Arts and Culture Annex Office at Pipeline Junction along Kairaba Avenue.
In his remark shortly before inking the MOU, Hassoum Ceesay, the Director General of the National Centre for Arts and Culture said it is a pleasure for the NCAC to have an MOU signed with the Kunta Kinteh Foundation, noting that they are helping the centre in fulfilling its mandate thus the NCAC mandate is wide.
The NCAC emphasized that they need more organizations, especially at the community level to take part in the activities that will help NCAC to undertake its mandate.
However, he noted that the signing is to formalize it hence for the past years Kunta Kinteh Foundation has always involved the NCAC in their activities, particularly in celebration of its annual Kunta Kinteh Festival, “so the MOU is to formalize it and will allow us to do something together and complement each other’s efforts.”
Henceforth, the DG assured them of bringing them on board in their activities, especially at Jufurreh and Albreda.
Lamin Ceesay, Public Relations Officer for Kunta KintehFoundation thanked the NCAC management while giving a background of the foundation saying it was founded in 2021 by Lamin Jatta from the Kunta Kinteh family.
Since the foundation, he said they have been celebrating the Kunta Kinteh Day which is every July 15, an internationally recognized day for the celebration of the Kunta Kinteh.
He said signing the MOU officially with the NCAC is an achievement for the foundation noting before the signing there has been a very good relationship between the foundation and the centre.
He dilated on some of the foundation’s activities which are not limited to only the North Bank Region but extended to the Banjul City, and other regions in The Gambia.
Earlier, Messrs Siaka Fadera, assistant director NCAC, and Sanna Jarju, ICH Focal Person, with Ebrima S Bah, acting secretary-general of Kunta Kinteh Foundation respectively welcomed and thanked everyone present and witnessed the signing.
The MOU, among other contents, included the fundamental role played by the two organizations in cultural exchange and the search for world peace and tolerance between different people, establishing a strong cooperation between the NCAC and KuntaKinteh Foundation, and also promoting and developing Gambian cultural and historical heritage. However, the MOU contains 10 Articles