Addis Ababa, Feb. 11, – Africans
should never again permit themselves to be subjected to the dehumanising
conditions under which slavery was carried out, President Nana Addo Dankwa
Akufo-Addo said on Monday.
He said Africans ought to
strengthen their commitment to ensuring that that blot on the Continent's
history did not repeat itself.
President Akufo-Addo made the
call on Monday at an event organised by the Kenyan Leader Uhuru Kenyatta, on
the sidelines of the ongoing 32nd Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the
African Union (AU), in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Describing the slave trade as
“one of the most unfortunate and barbaric episodes of human history,” the
President said the commemoration of the 400th Anniversary of the commencement
of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade was to recognise the fact that Africans
should never allow themselves to be dehumanised and be sold into slavery.
He noted that the nearly 12.5
million Africans from Central and West Africa sold into slavery had their
freedoms curtailed to build and create wealth for the peoples of unknown lands
where they were sent.
“As though this was not enough,
the Continent had to endure centuries of being colonised by the same people who
undertook the slave trade. The identity and personality of the African were
assaulted, and the imprints of imperialism and colonialism woven deeply into
the fabric of our lives,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo stated that
as Africa commemorated the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first West
African slaves in the Commonwealth of Virginia, in what subsequently became the
United States of America, “we have a sacred duty and an onerous responsibility
to help restore the dignity and pride of the African.”
“We are a continent of some 1.3
billion people, more than either the populations of Europe or the Americas; we
are an enterprising, hardworking and innovative people, and we must make it
count.”
President Akufo-Addo told the
gathering that Ghana was using the symbolism of 2019, dubbed: the “Year of
Return,” to bring together Africans, persons of African descent, and all
well-wishers and lovers of freedom to strengthen the commitment to ensuring
that slavery never happened again on the Continent.
Ghana kicked-off the “Year of
Return,” an event to give fresh impetus to unite the people in the Diaspora
with their kindred in Africa, with its launch in Washington D.C., in October
2018.
This was followed by the Full
Circle Festival last December, where more than 70 African American celebrities
visited Ghana to reconnect with their African heritage.
The "Year of Return"
would commemorate the 400th year of the extraordinary sacrifices, achievements
and contributions Africans in the Diaspora made to the lives of the Americans.
President Akufo-Addo said the
celebrities, who participated in the Full Circle Festival, were able to view
Ghana and, indeed, Africa from their own lenses and were able to “Eat, Feel,
See and Wear Ghana”.
The Back-2-Africa Festival, the
Home Coming and Investment Summit, the African-American Investment Forum, and
the Pan-African and Emancipation Day Celebrations are some of the activities
that would be held to commemorate the year-long event.
The commemoration, President
Akufo-Addo noted, “should enable us, in the African Union, to consolidate and
strengthen our links with our Sixth Region, i.e. the African Diaspora of the
so-called ‘New World,’ which have laid dormant, and make operational and extend
the Free Movement Protocol to those in the Diaspora seeking to resettle in
Africa.”
Looking forward to welcoming
people from the Continent and from the Diaspora to Ghana, he indicated that;
“Now is the time to engage each other more positively, and imbibe in ourselves
a deep consciousness and understanding of the history of the African peoples.”
“We, in Ghana, will ensure that
the focus of activities commemorating the arrival of the first African slaves
in Virginia showcases the achievements, creativity, ingenuity and resilience of
the African peoples through the ages,’ he added.
Africans, President Akufo-Addo
added, “must be proud of our rich heritage, a heritage which encompasses the
ancient Kingdoms of Benin, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kongo, Mali, Mutapa, Songhai
and Zimbabwe, and the world-renowned centres of learning of the University of
Al Azhar in the 10th century, and the University of Sankore in Timbuktu in the
13th century. I am proud to be an African.”
GNA
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