Emancipation Day will now be known as African Emancipation Day in Trinidad and Tobago, according to a new approval from Cabinet.

Making the announcement at Thursday’s Post Cabinet media briefing, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley said, “The time has come for us to make it quite clear what emancipation means; and who is being emancipated.”

Trinidad and Tobago is the first country in the world to declare Emancipation a national holiday. 

Dr. Rowley said while some international players were, “attempting to climb onto the Emancipation bandwagon and attempting to add appendages to it.”

“There’s no comparison between slavery and any other form of human indignation,” Rowley said. “We are descendants of slaves. We have a duty to preserve our history, or legacy and make our claim without apologies to anyone,” he said.