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

DRC authorities arrest six over break-in at Lumumba’s Mausoleum

Published

24 hours ago

November 21, 2024

Isaac Dachen

Police in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) say six people have been arrested over a break-in and vandalism at the mausoleum of the country’s assassinated independence leader, Patrice Lumumba, in Kinshasa, the country’s capital.

The police had announced the six arrests late Wednesday and said they were still looking for two more suspects.

Interior Minister, Jacquemin Shabani, said in a statement that during the break-in which occurred on Monday, a case containing a single gold-capped tooth, the only part of the former leader that remained after his assassination, was broken by the vandals.

“We assure that the relic is secure and it is protected,” the minister said, without offering more information.

The return of Lumumba’s tooth from former colonizer Belgium in 2022 had been celebrated around Congo, with the tooth taken around the vast country so people could pay their respects.

Lumumba is widely hailed as the nationalist activist who helped end colonial rule in the DRC and went on to become the country’s first prime minister and was seen as one of Africa’s most promising new leaders, but he was assassinated within a year in 1961.

His body was dismembered and dissolved with acid in an apparent effort to keep any grave from becoming a pilgrimage site.

For many in Congo, Lumumba is a symbol of the positive developments the country could have achieved after its independence but instead, it became mired in decades of dictatorship that drained its vast mineral riches.

A military coup toppled Lumumba, who was arrested, jailed and later killed. His assassination, blamed on separatists, cleared the way for the rise of Mobutu Sese Seko, who ruled the country he later renamed Zaire for decades with support from Western powers until his death in 1997.

His one remaining tooth was kept by the Belgian police commissioner who oversaw the destruction of his body.

The tooth was returned to Congo after the visit of Belgium’s King Philippe, who expressed regrets for his nation’s abuses in Congo when it was a Belgian colony.

Culture

Miss SA opens up on why she withdrew from Miss Universe pageant

Published

2 days ago

November 20, 2024

Isaac Dachen

Reigning Miss South Africa 2024, Mia le Roux, has opened up on the reasons behind her withdrawal from the Miss Universe pageant which was held in Mexico, where Nigeria’s Chidinma Adetshina was the first runner-up.

While narrating her experience in a video she shared on social media on Wednesday, le Roux said her body was taking so much physical strain.

“Hello everyone, I’m back in South Africa and wanted to reach out to you all. Thank you so much for all of your kind wishes, your support and prayers,” she said in the video.

“I wanted to be transparent with you and share my story. A lot of you would’ve seen the video that I made about vertigo, while I was in Mexico at Miss Universe.

“Vertigo is a condition where it feels like you are dizzy and there’s a sense of the world spinning around you. It’s very intense and can cause major issues with your imbalance.

“Mentally I was very strong, I was ready, but physically, my body was taking strain. I had to even seek medical help in Mexico City. And even after the medical help, my condition still wasn’t improving.”

She added that during the preliminary rounds of Miss Universe, she had continued to push herself but her vertigo intensified and it became unmanageable.

She stated that while she was waiting backstage, she fell repeatedly and couldn’t stand up without support and was not in a position to safely walk on stage.

“It was not easy. As I was not doing it just for myself but for all of you in South Africa,” she said.

“I will continue to serve as your Miss South Africa, to support and uplift those who come after me. With my unbreakable spirit and an exciting year ahead, I will keep fighting for myself and for everyone with dreams and passions. I am so proud to still be your Miss South Africa,” she added.