The Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has pushed back against calls for reparatory justice over the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, arguing that the historical narrative must fully reflect the role played by local actors.
According to him, the slave trade was not driven solely by external forces, but also involved the participation of some indigenes who subjected their own people to inhumane treatment.
Reacting to a statement on the issue, the Effutu Member of Parliament nevertheless condemned the suffering endured by victims of the trade.
“When somebody berths a vessel at Cape Coast, and you decide to go to the North, Bono area, get to the Ashanti area, to the Assin area, and you are chasing your strongest among your own people, then after 100 years, you say ‘I should be compensated’.
“Who should compensate whom? We maltreated our own and told the whiteman that he should also maltreat our own. The story must be told and must be put in its proper context.
“It is also a fact that the inhumane treatment, the unfortunate humiliation, the maginalisation, injustice and abuse of our ancestors who became victims of this slave trade must be condemned,” he said.
However, the Majority Leader and Bawku Central MP, Mahama Ayariga, defended calls for compensation, stressing the historical link between slavery and the accumulation of wealth in developed nations.
“Many of those countries that have wealth can trace their wealth to slavery. Many of the capitalist countries that have become rich started from plantations that were worked on by slaves. It is the labour of these slaves that helped them to build capital. As a result, there is the need to share that wealth in recognition of those who have been the foundation of the creation of that wealth,” he argued.
