By P.K Yankey
Awiaso, May 28, GNA – King Kaku Aka III, the Paramount Chief of the Awiaso Traditional Area, has endorsed President John Dramani Mahama’s call for reparatory justice from the British colonial administration over its role in the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.
In a statement issued by his spokesperson, Egya Annor Kwasi, and copied to the Ghana News Agency at Awiaso in the Ellembelle District of the Western Region, King Kaku Aka III said the lasting effects of the slave trade demanded restitution.
“The damning effects of the slave trade call for proper restitution, as it contributed to Africa becoming a backward continent,” he stated.
The chief described President Mahama’s advocacy, in his capacity as the African Union’s Advocate for Reparative Justice, as “a move in the right direction” and another landmark to atone for the sins of Europe against Africa.”
He noted that the forced removal of Africa’s active workforce, often with the connivance of some chiefs, had weakened the continent’s moral, spiritual, and economic foundations.
King Kaku Aka III commended his forebear, King Kaku Aka I, founder of the Nzema Kotoko Kingdom, for refusing to sign the Bond of 1844.
He said the refusal was an act of resistance against the slave trade and British colonial administration.
“The President’s move frames reparations not just as financial compensation, but as a critical pursuit of truth, dignity, and the restoration of African historical memory,” the statement added.
The traditional ruler accused the colonial administration of distorting Ghana’s historical and monarchical records and said the British “lacked the moral right” to install Paramount Chiefs in Nzema after the capture and execution of King Kaku Aka I.
He argued that caretakers of the Nzema Kingdom “blindly” followed British orders to the detriment of history, culture, and tradition, allowing people without legitimate allodia rights to ascend stools.
“If the reparation Ghana and the rest of Africa seek to demand from the colonial masters is anything to go by, then King Kaku Aka I, who opposed servitude and bondage, committed no crime and his office must be reinstated,” he said.
King Kaku Aka III recalled that King Kaku Aka I was recognized as the first Overlord of Nzemaland and hailed as “The Great Nzema King” in elementary history books authored by Mr. F.K. Buah, former headmaster of Tema Secondary School.
He urged Ghanaians not to forget that political administrations could not forcibly enstool an alien chief, and that neither the National nor Regional Houses of Chiefs had the constitutional mandate to install chiefs, as they were not part of royal family kingmakers.
He attributed many current chieftaincy disputes to colonial interference, saying the British had usurped the powers of traditional rulers and replaced them with unqualified heirs.
King Kaku Aka III called on the National House of Chiefs to examine historical archives to determine the legitimate and divinely recognized Overlord of Nzemaland.
He said this would help resolve long-standing disputes and litigation over land and succession.
He also expressed concern that historical texts teaching children to understand the past had been removed from school curricula and library shelves.
GNA
Edited by Justina Hilda Paaga/Kenneth Odeng Adade
Reporter: P. K. Yankey