In his Emancipation Day 2026 message, the President paid tribute to the “resistance, resolve, resourcefulness and resilience” of African ancestors who endured the horrors of the transatlantic trade in captive Africans and slavery, saying they never surrendered either their dignity or their determination to be free.

He noted that following Full Emancipation on August 1, 1838, African Guyanese transformed their circumstances through the village movement, education, entrepreneurship, agriculture, mining, public service, sports and the arts, laying the foundation for the development of modern Guyana.

“The greatest honour we can pay to them is in the work we do to create a society rooted in mutual respect, genuine equality, and shared prosperity,” President Ali stated.