The Prime Minister, performing the functions of the President, noted that in overcoming the legacy of slavery, Afro-Guyanese have excelled in every conceivable vocation and claimed the summit in many endeavours.

In his message to the nation marking the 165th anniversary of Emancipation, the Prime Minister declared: "We all appreciate being in a society that was constructed over centuries by ancestors from all over the world. This diversity is our greatest asset which should serve as a springboard for national development and continued progress."

"Our African fore-parents," Hinds noted, "wanted their freedom to actualize their dreams and to realize their visions."

"As a nation we need to hear again the bells of freedom signalling the yet unfinished task to emancipate all our people from the deforming, crippling and limiting effects and manifestations of human poverty."

The Prime Minister also observed that all Guyanese share the vision of former slaves of creating a new society where want is banished and where every willing man and woman has the opportunity for realizing his goals.