'Ghana was the crime scene' - the country leading the demand for slavery reparations

Ghana, a nation at the forefront of advocating for slavery reparations, served as a central location for the transatlantic slave trade, with captives held at its Cape Coast Castle before being forcibly transported across the Atlantic.

This year has marked a significant shift in the global discourse surrounding the transatlantic slave trade, with demands for formal apologies, debt relief, and financial compensation from nations and institutions that profited from slavery becoming increasingly vocal. In March, the United Nations passed a resolution recognizing slavery as "the greatest crime against humanity," though the United States voted against it and all European nations abstained.

The UK, a dominant force in the transatlantic slave trade alongside Portugal, has consistently rejected the concept of reparations, which is perhaps understandable given that estimated damages owed to affected nations run into trillions of pounds. However, this resistance has not deterred Ghana, which has emerged as the leading voice on reparations.

Ghana initiated the UN resolution and, in June, hosted a reparations summit in Accra, its capital, attended by delegates from approximately 80 countries. The consensus was that recompense is long overdue. Foreign Minister Samuel Okuzeto Ablakwa stated, "Ghana has always been a pan-African leader. We're the first country to attain independence in sub-Saharan Africa and to prove that it is possible to fight imperial might, and win."

The African Union has entrusted Ghana with the special responsibility of being the "champion for reparatory justice," a role its political leadership is taking seriously. This commitment stems partly from the fact that an estimated 10-15% of the 12 million Africans forcibly removed from their homes and dehumanized were from what is now Ghana. Even more were shipped from its shores.

"Ghana was the crime scene where these atrocities took place, so Ghana cannot afford to be silent on ensuring that we hold perpetrators accountable," Ablakwa asserted. The minister has proposed a system of reparatory justice that would fund educational grants, venture capital for young African entrepreneurs, and research into persistent health issues potentially linked to the severe malnutrition and inhumane conditions of enslavement.

While Ablakwa insists this is not about direct financial gain for African leaders, the recent summit on reparations explicitly included demands for debt relief and debt cancellation. He also advocates for individual institutions that benefited from the slave trade, such as the Church of England, to be held accountable and pay compensation.

In the 18th century, the Church of England's missionary arm operated plantations and owned hundreds of slaves, which helped finance its operations across the Americas and beyond. Many Church of England clergy independently owned slaves, and a recent report by the Church's endowment fund revealed significant investments in the slave trade, generating substantial profits.

In July, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dame Sarah Mullally, visited Ghana as one of her first international engagements in her role. She toured Cape Coast Castle, a British-run coastal fortress where enslaved people were held before enduring the brutal "Middle Passage" to the Americas. As she explored the dungeons and walked through "the door of no return," Dame Sarah appeared visibly moved and paused to pray.

"I felt the weight of the depth of evil that the transatlantic slave trade was. You can't help but be deeply moved by the horrific conditions that people were kept in," the Archbishop remarked. She also prayed in a 17th-century chapel situated directly above the dungeons. "For me that is such a stark illustration of the way the Church was involved in the slave trade," she said. "How can the church have sat above the horrors that were going on below?"

Archbishop Sarah acknowledged, "The Church of England has apologised for the part that we played in the transatlantic slave trade but we've also said there needs to be action that relates to that." The Church has established a £100 million ($135 million) social impact fund aimed at benefiting communities believed to still experience the lasting legacy of the slave trade.

However, the fund's creation has met with internal resistance within the Church, mirroring the global pushback against nations paying reparations. A key counter-argument highlights the complicity of some Africans in the capture and sale of their own people. Foreign Minister Ablakwa vehemently rejects this narrative, arguing, "I think that there's a strategy to divide and conquer and to create a very contrived confusion."

He emphasizes that the entire framework of chattel enslavement was orchestrated by Western slave-owning powers, who merely utilized local actors to execute their plans. The foreign minister points out that "there was no African at the table" when the laws, insurance policies, and financial structures of the trade were being drafted. "We denounce and totally reject those claims that Africans are as guilty and complicit as those who masterminded this whole atrocity," he stated.

Yet, within Ghana, the discussion surrounding African complicity is more nuanced. For some traditional leaders, acknowledging the past is a crucial step towards healing. King Tackie Teiko Tsuru II, the Ga Mantse and leader of Ghana's Ga people, recently issued a public apology for his ancestors' involvement in the slave trade.

"I think that the transatlantic slave trade was the greatest crime against humanity, and ancestors also took part as players in that trade," the king said. The Ga people acted as middlemen, trading with Europeans, selling gold, ivory, and ultimately enslaved Africans—often those captured in local conflicts—in exchange for manufactured goods, primarily from the British and Dutch, including textiles, alcohol, and guns.

The king felt compelled to apologize not only for his own people's complicity but also for that of other Africans. "I stand on the same point of apologising on behalf of all traditional authorities and my ancestors and forebears for the part they also played in the slavery of our brothers and sisters. It has affected lives and societies up to now, and to be able to go forward, you have to look at your past. It dawns on us to admit our fault and correct it," he explained.

The king strongly believes in the necessity of those who benefited from the slave trade paying reparations and acknowledges his own commitment to making financial amends. "I believe that it underpins a state of moral courage and credibility." For the Ga Mantse, admitting fault does not diminish the guilt of European empires; instead, it strengthens Africa's moral standing and provides an example for moving forward.

Ghana is also leading efforts to heal the damage caused by the slave trade through a high-profile campaign inviting the African diaspora, particularly African-Americans, to visit the continent. This initiative has been promoted as a way to unite people through their shared traumatic past, with "reparations" focusing on "repair" at a deeply human level.

Yaw Asare, a Ghanaian PhD student at Howard University, previously worked in the President of Ghana's Diaspora Office, which managed the campaign. He initially found the gathering of black people from around the globe to be "a beautiful, profound experience devoid of capitalist motives." However, he noted that the initiative soon evolved.

"The Ghana Tourism Authority also latched on to it and then used it to enhance their tourism project," Asare explained, suggesting the initiative became less about "repair" and more about meeting tourism targets. Asare argues that the campaign often viewed the returning diaspora primarily as a source of foreign currency, leading to increased prices and negative impacts on local economies.

"Now (local) people are finding that they cannot afford basic things," Asare said, describing how local Ghanaians were economically marginalized. More significantly, he believes the commercialization of the initiative overshadowed the crucial psychological work needed for both locals and "returning" diaspora members.

"We are dealing with humans, we are dealing with people. We cannot reduce them to, 'come see this site, pay this entrance fee'," Asare emphasized. He also questioned why, in an initiative partly aimed at addressing the trauma of Africans in the diaspora, they were required to pay the same entrance fees as European tourists at sites like the coastal castles where slaves were trafficked.

Asare believes this represents a missed opportunity to address deep-rooted trauma, some of which he feels is embedded in the very geography and psychology of modern Ghana. "Go to Jamestown (in Accra), people are huddled together because there is the fear of 'if I live far away, I could be taken'," Asare said, highlighting how centuries-old concerns influenced the close proximity of houses.

Jamestown, one of Accra's oldest districts, was originally built around a British coastal fort where slaves were brought, traded, and then shipped to the Americas. For Asare, true reparatory justice must prioritize human connection and healing over financial transactions.

"We have to remove the band-aid and then look at the sore, the gaping wound that's present," Asare said about what he considers real "reparations." "And see how we can dress it and nurse it and heal."