By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Ghana’s President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has called for compensation with apology from Europe over the enslavement of Africans, querying why there is a double standard in this regard.
The President said other races and ethnic groups that were wronged historically have since received reparations.
He said, “Native Americans have received and continue to receive reparations; Japanese-American families, who were incarcerated in internment camps in America during World War II, received reparations. Jewish people, six million of whom perished in the concentration camps of Hitlerite Germany, received reparations, including homeland grants and support”.
He spoke at the Reparations and Racial Healing Summit on Monday, insisting that these compensations were “long overdue” and needed to be intensified.
He also expressed dissatisfaction that all the owners of enslaved Africans received reparations to the tune of 20 million pounds sterling, “but enslaved Africans themselves did not receive a penny.”
While reiterating that no amount of money can restore the damage caused by the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and its consequences, which have spanned many centuries, the President stated that “nevertheless, it is now time to revive and intensify the discussions about reparations for Africa. Indeed, the time is long overdue.”
He urged participants at the summit not to overly concern themselves with modalities for the payment of compensation, but, rather, work to establish, unequivocally, first the justice in the call for compensation.
“And, even before these discussions on reparations conclude, the entire continent of Africa deserves a formal apology from the European nations involved in the slave trade for the crimes and damage it has caused to the population, psyche, image and character of the African the world over,” the President added.
Haiti also had to pay reparations amounting to $21 billion to French slaveholders in 1825 following the Haitian Revolution.
