Ghana has granted citizenship to over 100 African Americans and Afro-Caribbeans as part of Year of Return,
The citizenship ceremony took place at Jubilee House, the seat of government and the oath of allegiance was administered by a judge. In a speech delivered by President Nana Akufo-Addo on Wednesday, Nov. 27 while receiving the new Ghanaian citizens, he congratulated then and invited more African to return home.
“On behalf of the government and people of Ghana, I congratulate you once again on resuming your identity as Ghanaians,” the president stated. “We recognize our unique position as the location for 75% of the slave dungeons built on the west coast of Africa through which the slaves were transported. That is why we had a responsibility to extend the hand of welcome, back home to Africans in the diaspora,” the president added.
During the ceremony, Rabbi Kohain spoke on behalf of the new citizens, “The most valuable possession that was taken away from us was our identity and our connection; it was like severing the umbilical cord… But tonight, our identity, the dignity, the pride that has been absent is restored here,” he said.
The celebration of “The Year of return” this year is very significant as it marks 400 years since the anchoring of an English ship in Jamestown, Virginia in the United States carrying a small group of enslaved Africans. The year 1619 is widely regarded as the commencement of the slave trade in the US.
Ghana has been hosting a range of activities, at home and n the diaspora, to encourage descendants of those who were forcibly sent away to return Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) in August welcomed 250 non-resident Africans, including Ghanaians, who have been away from the country and the diaspora as part of the celebrations of the ‘Year of Return’. In June, the president embarked on a five-nation tour of the Caribbean to promote return.
