Ghana to host Glasgow 2014 Queen's baton relay

Ghana will host the Glasgow 2014 Queen's Baton Relay this week, minister of youth and sports Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah said here Monday.

The Queen's Baton Relay is the traditional curtain raiser to the Commonwealth Games and has been an inclusion in the Games program since the Cardiff 1958 Commonwealth Games in Wales.

Briefing the media on the programme lined-up for the event, Afriyie-Ankrah expressed delight that the Queen's Baton Relay brought the country an opportunity to highlight and promote the city and athletes via the accompanying local and international media attention, Xinhua reported.

He said his outfit had already kick-started planning to celebrate the arrival of the Glasgow 2014 Queen's Baton Relay which will travel through places of interest in Accra and Ho.

The baton would be officially received by Ghana's Vice President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur at a welcoming ceremony at the Flagstaff House Saturday, Jan 4, 2014.

"At the end of the relay in Ghana, it will have been carried by the vice president of the Republic, the speaker of parliament, the Chief Justice, the Chief of Staff, nine ministers of state, 10 high commissioners, 4 Paramount Chiefs, 30 CEO's, 20 Top Sports Personalities, 70 current and former athletes and 200 children," said Afriyie-Ankrah.

The baton will arrive in the Ghanaian capital Accra on January 3, 2014 from Sierra Leone, the 22nd country of its 71 Commonwealth destinations.

The Glasgow 2014 Queen's Baton Relay began at Buckingham Palace Oct 9 this year.

The baton is currently travelling through island nation of Vanuatu in the Asia Pacific and will then complete the final part of the journey in Scotland where it will spend a total of 40 days.

Ghana is located on the Gulf of Guinea and Atlantic Ocean in the Africa frontier of Sub-Saharan Africa.