We want apology from the Western world on slave trade - Sierra Leone Minister

Accra, Feb. 16, GNA - Mr. Okere Adams, Sierra Leone's Minister of Tourism and Culture, on Friday expressed sorrow at the reluctance by the Western world to formally apologize for slavery in Africa.
     "It seems that the slave masters do not feel sorry for the acts they committed and they try to justify it by saying that Africans cannot govern themselves and all sorts of negative things about Africa."
     Mr Adams was contributing to discussions at the ECOWAS Ministers of Tourism Meeting on UNESCO at the commemoration of 200th anniversary of the abolition of the North Atlantic Slave Trade on the theme: "From Slave Route to Heritage Route."
     He said it would be wrong to call for reparation since that would mean being paid for being taken as slaves but all Africans sought was an apology from the Western world expressing how sorry they felt for the act.
     Rabbi Helevi Kohain, Member of the PANAFEST Foundation, noted that it was important that issues about the slave trade be discussed thoroughly "since we, as Africans, have been silent for too long on the issue of slavery".
     Ms Irene Odotei, President of the Historical Society of Ghana, advised that the slave trade era should be seen as a period in history and not a tourist event. She said it was important that history be taught in schools to get African children understand what happened during that era and possibly influence their behaviour towards African Americans.

Pastor Mensah Otabil, Founder of International Central Gospel Church, who presented the slavery story from the perspective of an African, noted that the slave trade was not an entirely African story.
     "We need to deeply involve ourselves with the experiences of those who left the continent. The story of our past has the ability to inspire us for the future and not to allow the past to repeat itself," he said. Pastor Otabil said Africans seemed not to have learnt their lesson and said choices made 400 years ago by our great grand parents still had influence on the present and future.
     He expressed the hope that through the anniversary Africans would re-asset their dignity and look for ways to help themselves instead of depending on donors."We cannot re-asset our dignity if we continue to receive donor support from the Western world," Pastor Otabil said. Ms. Marquita Stokes, an African American who has relocated to Ghana, sharing her experience, said she sometimes did not know where she belonged because "in America I am seen as a black person and when I come to Ghana I am called 'Obroni' (white woman)."
     She recounted, almost in tears, the painful experiences that African Americans had gone through in their lives and shouted that she was proud to be an African.Ms Stokes expressed concern about the dusty roads and they way people walked to African American begging for money, she said: "I accept that as a challenge."
     Professor James Anquandah who is in charge of the developing the slave route said thousands of African Americans were poor and about 80 per cent of prisoners in the United States of America are African Americans.He noted that pilgrimage tourism was an excellent idea but could only flourish with the development of the slave route project and called on all stakeholders to support it.
     Prof. George Hagan, Chairman of the National Commission on Culture, suggested the development of a sculptural garden that would display all the stages of the slave journey to enable African Americans have first hand knowledge of what was in the country in terms of castles and forts.
GNA

16 Feb. 07