United States Vice President Kamala Harris will be visiting Ghana later this month. This will be her first trip to the African continent since she became Vice President. According to the Los Angeles Times, she spent time in Lusaka Zambia as a little girl in the 1960s visiting her maternal grandfather.

On this trip, she will be travelling with her husband, Douglas Emhoff to Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia from March 25- April 2, 2023. Her visit is part of the Biden administration’s desire to build its relationships with African countries in a climate where China and Russia have been making progress within African nations. This trip culminates the recent U.S.-Africa Leaders’ Summit hosted by President Biden in December 2022 in Washington DC. Vice President Harris’ press secretary Kirsten Allen said in a statement that this trip will, “strengthen the United States’ partnerships throughout Africa and advance our shared effort on security and economic prosperity.” Vice President Harris will be meeting with Ghanaian President Nana Akufo Addo, Tanzanian President Samia Hassan, and Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema. In a statement from the White House, it was said that the meetings would focus on discussing “both regional and global priorities, including a shared commitment to democracy, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, and food security.” The impact of the Russia’s war on Ukraine is another global matter that will be discussed in the meetings.

Besides official meetings with leadership, the vice president has plans to engage with members of civil society in each country. She will meet with business-people, entrepreneurs, young people in leadership, and members of the African Diaspora living on the continent. Ghana being a leading African nation that has welcomed the diaspora to the continent through successful campaigns like the ‘Year of Return 2019’ and ‘Beyond the Return, A Decade of African Renaissance’, has a vested interest in the diaspora community meeting with the vice president. In Ghana, there are potential plans to meet with the African American Association of Ghana and the Diaspora African Forum.

Vice President Harris expressed through social media that she is looking forward to a productive trip.

Story by: Ivy Prosper

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1st August, 2022
For Immediate Release

“PAYMENT OF SLAVERY REPARATIONS TO AFRICA ARE LONG OVERDUE” – PRESIDENT AKUFO-ADDO

The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, says the effects of the Slave Trade have been devastating to the African continent and to the African Diaspora, with the entire period of slavery stifling Africa’s economic, cultural and psychological progress.

Speaking at the Reparations and Racial Healing Summit on Monday, 1st August 2022, President Akufo-Addo stressed that reparations for Africa and the African diaspora are long overdue.

However, he bemoaned that fact that the subject of reparations “becomes a debate” only when it comes to Africa and Africans.

According to the President, when the British ended slavery, all the owners of enslaved Africans received reparations to the tune of twenty million pounds sterling, the equivalent today of twenty billion pounds sterling, but enslaved Africans themselves did not receive a penny. Likewise in the United States, owners of slaves received three hundred dollars for every slave they owned; the slaves themselves received nothing.

Indeed, in the case of Haiti, the country had to pay reparations amounting to twenty-one billion dollars ($21 billion) to French slaveholders in 1825 for the victory of the great Haitian Revolution, the first in the Americas and the Caribbean which freed the slaves.

President Akufo-Addo continued, “Native Americans have received and continue to receive reparations; Japanese-American families, who were incarcerated in internment camps in America during World War II, received reparations. Jewish people, six million of whom perished in the concentration camps of Hitlerite Germany, received reparations, including homeland grants and support”.

He continued, “So, it is time for Africa, twenty million of whose sons and daughters had their freedoms curtailed and sold into slavery, also to receive reparations.”

Whilst reiterating that no amount of money can restore the damage caused by the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and its consequences, which have spanned many centuries, the President stated that “nevertheless, it is now time to revive and intensify the discussions about reparations for Africa. Indeed, the time is long overdue.”

He, thus, asked participants at the Summit not to overly concern themselves with modalities for the payment of reparations, but, rather, work to establish, unequivocally, first the justice in the call for reparations.

“And, even before these discussions on reparations conclude, the entire continent of Africa deserves a formal apology from the European nations involved in the slave trade for the crimes and damage it has caused to the population, psyche, image and character of the African the world over,” the President added.

With the Caribbean Community, CARICOM, having taken the lead in the reparations debate, President Akufo-Addo urged the African Union to engage with “our kith and kin from the diaspora”, and form a united front to advance the cause of reparations.

“The discourse on reparations cannot succeed without emphasis on racial healing. We need to heal from the wrongs of the past in order to capitalise on the opportunities that await us in the future,” he added.

Source: Ghana Presidency

“I wish I was in Accra,’ is what American Hip-hop artist Chance the Rapper tweeted in late December. His tweet went viral and within a few days of publicly declaring that wish, he landed in Ghana. The artist spent five days with his friend, Vic Mensa, a Ghanaian-American rap artist who had already travelled to Ghana in December. His time spent in Ghana has been an amazing experience for him and he says he has plans to return later this year.

On his last day in Ghana, the artists paid a visit to meet with President Nana Akuffo Addo at Jubilee House. In the meeting the pair shared their interest in launching a project that would connect artists in the U.S. with artists in Ghana. It would provide a platform to collaborate and amplify the work of talented artists in Ghana and the rest of the African continent. Upon arrival, Chance the Rapper and Vice Mensa made their first stop at an art gallery that features a collective of artists so their commitment to supporting creatives is genuine.

During the meeting, Chance recounted a story of how his family built a school in Jamestown as well as a church near Nungua and he made it a point to go visit the congregation on Sunday. There he met Bishop Nkansah, who he said knew his great grandmother. He truly felt at home knowing he had historical connections with Ghana. He also mentioned that his great grandfather was a Pan Africanist and a captain under Marcus Garvey’s Black Star Shipping lines.

Vic Mena, whose father is from Koforidua, Eastern Region, spoke of how he’s been visiting Ghana since he was 11 years old and has continued to visit and stays true to his roots in the community where his family still resides. He spoke of the contrast spending time in his father’s hometown versus the vibrant city and nightlife of Accra. His passion to create and stay connected to his roots in Ghana was evident and he has plans to continue doing more over the years when it comes to working with the creative community.

Chance the Rapper says the trip was an amazing experience and he will definitely return to Ghana later this year.