By D.I. Laary
Kyebi (E/R), June 7, GNA – Participants at a reparations and reparatory justice forum have argued that Africa must address the spiritual, psychological, cultural and developmental damage caused by slavery before any meaningful reparations programme can achieve lasting impact.
They said the legacy of the transatlantic slave trade continues to influence development, cultural identity, spirituality, trade relations and social cohesion across Africa and the diaspora.
The call emerged at a two-day roundtable organised by the Office of Daasebre Dr Twum Ampofo II in collaboration with the Dutch-based National Institute for the Study of Dutch Slavery and its Legacy (NiNsee), diaspora representatives and other stakeholders at Ofori Panin Fie in Kyebi.
Daasebre Dr Twum Ampofo II, Chief of Asiakwa and Nifahene of the Akyem Abuakwa Traditional Area, said slavery inflicted profound physical, emotional, spiritual and developmental harm on African societies.
“When you talk about slave trade, Akyemman has to be mentioned,” he said, noting that local oral history identifies Dedyase near Kyebi as one of the locations where enslaved people were held before being transported elsewhere.
He said slavery and colonialism deprived communities of people, resources, artefacts and development opportunities.
“Physically, they took from us virtually everything—our resources, our people. It has taken us centuries back,” he stated, adding that indigenous belief systems and cultural institutions were also weakened.
Participants stressed that reparatory justice should extend beyond financial compensation.
Ms Bridget Agbee-Bamfo, a Ghanaian-born civil servant based in Australia, described the psychological and spiritual consequences of slavery as among its most enduring legacies.
“The first thing they had to take from us was our spirituality,” she said, arguing that Africans were conditioned to view foreign languages, customs and religions as superior to indigenous systems.
She said traditional knowledge, family structures and cultural practices had gradually weakened, affecting identity, confidence and mental well-being.
“We are people without foundation,” she remarked, while also calling for greater trust and honesty in relations between Africans and members of the diaspora.
Speaking on the sidelines of the forum, Nana Fofie Afia, Nkosuohemaa I of Nana Tongo Shrine at Asokore-Koforidua, said slavery’s impact remained embedded in contemporary cultural, spiritual and economic life.
“They took away our spirituality, our dignity and our confidence level, especially among women,” she said.
She also questioned the continued use of imported products in traditional ceremonies, urging greater patronage of locally produced alternatives to strengthen indigenous industries.
Participants examined narratives surrounding African involvement in the slave trade, with some rejecting claims that Africans willingly sold their own people.
“We did not sell our brothers and sisters. It was a violence of 350 years,” one contributor said, arguing that the trade was sustained through organised systems of capture, coercion and violence.
The forum heard that millions died during capture, transportation and the Middle Passage, while Africa lost generations of young people, disrupting population growth, technological advancement, social structures and cultural continuity.
Participants also linked some contemporary chieftaincy, tribal and communal disputes to divisions created or deepened during the slave trade era, when rivalries were exploited to facilitate the capture of enslaved people.
Mr Ranger Mawuenyega, Advisor on International Relations and Diaspora Affairs at the Office of Daasebre Dr Twum Ampofo II, said the dialogue followed engagements with diaspora organisations and NiNsee during a cultural diplomacy mission to the Netherlands last year.
He said discussions focused on reparations, education, trade, economic empowerment, cultural restoration and healing.
“We have to look at what trade imbalances have been created as a result of the transatlantic slave trade,” he said.
Participants identified education, capacity building, mental health support, cultural restoration, economic empowerment and stronger Africa-diaspora engagement as key priorities for any reparations framework.
The forum also referenced the CARICOM 10-Point Reparations Plan and welcomed growing international recognition of slavery as a historical injustice requiring redress.
The transatlantic slave trade, which lasted from the 16th to the 19th century, forcibly transported an estimated 12.5 million Africans across the Atlantic, with about 10.7 million surviving the journey.
GNA
Edited by Audrey Dekalu
Reporter: by D.I. Laary