In spite of the fact that colonialism in Africa officially came to an end, the effects it left behind are still intact (Harry, 2017). The persistence of colonialism takes deeper roots with examples of the events that surrounded the death of Muammar Gaddafi and the recent deaths of African migrants in the Mediterranean Sea, which are consequent to the hardline policies that the British government continues to implement against some African states. The contemporary situation in Africa is a result of the failures orchestrated by the British and the Western powers, who pride in the custody of great powers and can do as they please to African without blowbacks. Such devastating aftermath effects of colonialism are very evident in Ghana, whose colony was the British.
First named the Gold Coast in 1492 by the Europeans, Ghana was well known and loved due to trading in Gold with the Europeans, which led to the development of Akwamu in the 17th century, controlling a major part of the coastal land. In the 18th century, Akwamu is replaced with Ashanti, which was more dominant and they had their capital at Kumasi. During this time, the main European traders in the coast were the Dutch, British, and Danes. The Ashanti regime signed the onset of the slave trade, where the king traded slaves for muskets, western commodities, and greater local power. Between 1804 and 1814, the Ashanti suffered major blows as British, Danes, and Dutch outlawed slave trade, leading to rising tensions in the 1820s. Meanwhile, the British in the coastal region were rising as the stronger European power, leading to buying of the Danish fortresses in 1850. Dutch merchants finally leave the coastal regions of in 1870 and by 1874 it is formally the British region. Colonialism in Ghana lasted from 1902 to March 1957, when Ghana gained its independence.
In the year between 1482 and 1786, many clusters of forts and castles were established along Ghana’s five hundred-kilometer-long coastlines between Beyin in the west and Keta in the East. Earlier during the 1500s, the settlers shifted their attention from gold trade to slaves due to increase in demands for human labor in New Worlds such as in Caribbean and Americas. From storage of ivory, gold, and other wares, the castles turned into prison cells for the slaves, whose dignity was decreased to that of a commodity. The mighty fortresses in coastal Ghana contained dark dungeons that overflowed with despair and misery, which remained the ordeal until the abolishment of the slave trade in the 1800s. As at that time, there was already immeasurable and irreversible damage done and from this section of Africa, it is approximated that over six million slaves had been taken to other countries, where an estimated 10% to 15% died at the sea during the Middle Passage.
Over 1,000 males and 500 females, all slaves were crammed and shackled in castle’s dark and poorly ventilated dungeons, with no light and place to lie down. There was no sanitation or water and the dungeon’s floors were littered with all form of human waste, which led to the majority if these captives felling seriously ill. During these tormenting moments of despair, the women were separated from men, familial relationships were fractured, death becomes very common, and Ghana was depopulated. Currently, there are 30-odd forts, former trading posts, and castles that remain as evidence to the largest forced migrations in the history of Africa and also evidence of the atrocities that humans can commit against each other. Some of these castles include the Cape Coast, Elmina, and Ussher Fort, which are now museums that attract tourists from all over the world.
In a post to BBC by Ross (2007), 200 years following the British abolished the slave trade, the impacts are wide and still evident. As Ross explains, though Ghana has accomplished remarkable growth rates in the last several years, the scenes in the rural areas have slightly or not changed, with few people living there and houses still are grass thatched with mud walls. Most of those that spoke to him claimed that their families were broken, others do not understand what happened or where their parents or children were taken and still grieve these events internally. One Ghanaian lawyer and historian, Mohamed Abdulai states that “Africa's loss of millions of the strongest men and women during the slave trade is one reason for this underdevelopment” (Ross, 2007). The depopulation of Ghana through slavery led to the destruction of social systems, which would have created the growth of the country’s economy. Some communities were forced to run out of their lands and farms, which has up to today resulted in agricultural labor and artisan shortages affecting most of the current economies. Therefore, the current conditions of the Ghanaian economy were contributed by the depopulation of humans during the slave trade. Despite economic impacts of the slave trade in Ghana, there are other negative implications that concern security. Depopulation of the strong men and women led to depletion of the continents security power, which has made most African countries more vulnerable to European and Western Aggressions.
Even though slave trade was abolished, one clear picture that this brings is that it was replaced with colonialism. For instance, Europe saw slave trade not as an abuse to the continent but as an economic opportunity, thus, modification to this system furthers their interests. Consequently, the vestiges of cruel practices in whichever dimension are not meant to take off slave masters’ hands-off Ghana but rather we can postulate that any of the systems (be it religious or politics) they would like to introduce to Ghana is geared towards their single objective of economics. Thus, colonization landed in Africa and then followed by the slave trade, which is then trailed by colonization or neocolonialism. To further their economic objectives, the European and Western powers have seen the necessity to classify African continent, and outrightly see it as a savage that must undergo civilization. One clear example of this motive is the introduction of vocabulary that besides classifying Africa, they have reduced and denigrated Africans to irrational beings that require to be civilized to save her or him from herself or himself. Most European and Western countries view Africa as barbaric, ignorant, heathen, pagan, and backward. Some of its cultural compositions are viewed as irrelevant and the African personality must be wiped out to pave way for European concept and personality. Such stereotypes, when imposed on Africans has reduced their hopes to despair and the psyche that at some points redirects the thoughts of hopelessness and helplessness. There is the possibility that there are positive impacts of the slave trade in Ghana, even though they are negligible compared to severity and depth of the negative impacts. The negative implications by a wide range outweigh the gains that Ghana has made from inhumane and cruel ventures of the British and Western spheres. Additionally, there are evidence of economic stagnation, underdevelopment, and deepening poverty that Ghana is grappling with.
With the entrenched negative implications of the slave trade in Ghana, there are several things that can help the country overcome them and achieve fast growth of its economy. First, all tactics by the British and the West should be neutralized. One strategy these powers utilize is taking advantage of corrupt African leaders who steal and hide money in those country’s banks. The country should undertake invasive and comprehensive campaigns to fight corruption. The country should also capitalize on its agricultural products such as Cocoa so that the country becomes self-reliant. Due to reduced human labor consequent to depopulation during the slave trade, the Ghanaian government should encourage its citizens to have education and participate in both formal and informal sectors of the economy. This can be enabled through the government initiatives to fund and make credit facilities available to entrepreneurs. The initiative will direct the idea of becoming self-employed forward compared to being employed, which is the major challenge. Ghanaian government should investigate all foreign agencies to ensure that they are not taking due advantage of its citizens. The strategy can be achieved through the auditing of all agencies both internal and external to not arouse feelings of bias since the country has to still rely on European and Western powers for donor aids.
References
Harry, O. P. (2017, August 19). Colonialism in Africa is Still Alive and Well. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/01/colonialism-in-africa-is-still-alive-and-well
Ross, W. (2007, March 29). Slavery's long effects on Africa. BBC News. Retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6504141.stm
References
Harry, O. P. (2017, August 19). Colonialism in Africa is Still Alive and Well. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/01/colonialism-in-africa-is-still-alive-and-well
Ross, W. (2007, March 29). Slavery's long effects on Africa. BBC News. Retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6504141.stm
