Culture

Archeologists discover first English slave fort in Africa

Published

1 year ago

August 1, 2023

Akanimoh Etim

Archeologists have discovered the exact location of the first English slave fort in Africa.

It was discovered at a coastal city in Ghana.

The significant discovery made by a team of scientists led by world-renowned archeologist, Christopher DeCorse, a professor from Syracuse University in the US, found what is thought to be the first of its kind in the West African country on Monday.

According to DeCorse, rare artefacts dug out from the site include an gunflint used in old-fashioned guns, tobacco pipes, broken pottery and the jawbone of a goat, as well as discarded fragments unearthed from centuries of compacted soil, which further offer clues to a lost past.

The site is inside Fort Amsterdam built by the Dutch and with ancient maps referring to a Fort Kormantine in that area, while the name of the town of Kormantse has been localized from its original version of Coromantee, given to some of the enslaved people in the Caribbean thought to have been transported from the place and later known for slave rebellions.

Dating back to the 17th Century, Fort Kormantine sat on the Atlantic coast just at the time when Europeans started shifting their interest from the trade in gold to the trade in humans, according to history.

Built by the English in 1631, Fort Kormantine was one of the earliest places where that journey started and was a pivotal moment in the history of their involvement in Africa that would have a profound effect on the continent.

DeCorse said the discovery may shed some light on the lives of those early traders and what they were doing, as well as those who were sold and the impact on the community around them.

“Ghana’s coastal fishing towns, known for their colourful boats and the melodies sung by the fishermen, remain scarred by a past of European exploitation and human cruelty.

“The slave forts dotted along what was called the Gold Coast are a looming reminder of that past. Hundreds of thousands passed through them before being transported in horrific conditions across the sea.

“The slave trade only began from there in 1663 when King Charles II granted a charter to the Company of Royal Adventurers of England Trading into Africa (later the Royal African Company). He gave it monopoly rights over the trade in human beings.

“It was only in English hands for another two years before the Dutch seized it but Fort Kormantine played a key role in the initial stages of the slave trade.

“It served as a warehouse for the goods that were used to buy slaves. It was also a brief holding point for those who had been kidnapped in different parts of West Africa before being shipped to the Caribbean to work in plantations to develop the sugar economy.

“We don’t have that many details on exactly what these early outposts of the slave trade looked like, which is one of the things that make uncovering the foundations of Fort Kormantine interesting,” Prof DeCorse said.

Related Topics:Featured Ghana Discovery Slave Fort

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Culture

Ghana’s Afua Asantewaa begins second GWR sing-a-thon attempt

Published

7 hours ago

December 22, 2024

Isaac Dachen

Ghanaian singer, Afua Asantewaa, on Saturday, began her second attempt at breaking the Guinness World Record (GWR) for the longest singing marathon by an individual.

The sing-a-thon which began in the early hours of Saturday, December 21, at Heroes’ Park, Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi, will run until December 25, and will see the determined songstress perform non-stop, focusing exclusively on Ghanaian songs.

According to Asantewaa’s manager, Madam Gladys Osei Owiredu, the audacious initiative is aimed at showcasing the rich cultural heritage of Ghanaian music to a global audience.

Owiredu confirmed that preparations for the event had been extensive but expressed confidence in Asantewaa’s readiness to finally break the record.

“I can confirm that she is ready for the task ahead. It’s been challenging—by way of preparations—but I can say she is ready,” Owiredu said.

Asantewaa’s second attempt follows her first effort in December 2023, which fell short of surpassing the current record of 105 hours held by India’s Sunil Waghmare.

But despite the setback, her team remains optimistic about breaking the record this time with corporate sponsors including International Maritime Hospital, Ghana Gas, Nasco Electronics, and Zoomlion Ghana Limited rallying behind her, underscoring the importance of the attempt in amplifying the global significance of Ghanaian music.

Culture

Ghana’s Supreme Court dismisses suit challenging anti-LGBT bill

Published

3 days ago

December 19, 2024

Isaac Dachen

Ghana’s Supreme Court has dismissed two separate suits challenging the legality of one of the proposed anti-LGBT legislations awaiting assent into law by the president.

The separate suits were filed by two legal practitioners, Amanda Odoi and Richard Sky, challenging the bill, seeking to declare it illegal and prevent the president from signing it.

The two cases had challenged the constitutionality of the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill.

But in a ruling on Wednesday, the Supreme Court unanimously decided to dismiss the legal challenges to the new anti-LGBT legislation that has been criticised by rights groups.

The controversial bill was passed earlier this year by Ghanaian lawmakers with three years imprisonment for people identifying as LGBT and five years for forming or funding LGBT groups.

While dismissing the cases, presiding judge, Justice Avril Lovelace-Johnson, who delivered the ruling on behalf of the seven-member panel, said the cases were premature.

“Until there’s presidential assent, there is no act, the two cases were “unanimously dismissed,” she said.

The ruling is the latest blow to the LGBTQ community in Ghana and paves the way for the president to sign into law what many say is one of Africa’s most restrictive piece of anti-LGBTQ legislation.

President Nana Akufo-Addo, whose term in office ends on 7 January, had delayed signing it pending the outcome of the Supreme Court challenge but the judges said the case could not be reviewed until it had been signed it into law.

It expected that incoming president, John Mahama, will sign the bill into law as he had always expressed his support for the bill during his electioneering campaigns.