Ghana and The Right to Abode

For African Americans

November 2001, Ghana's parliament passed legislation which allows any person of African descent in the Diaspora to live and work in Ghana indefinitely.

Previously, African-Americans in Ghana had continually to renew visas and work permits, which proved to be both costly and bothersome. Those who have advocated the African-American cause celebrated a small victory. Ghana is the first and only African nation to adopt legislation providing Africa's dispersed family a legal right to return.

The actual document is called The Right to Abode and while there is an application process and a few minor qualifications that are outlined, it indeed provides a new opportunity to Africans in the Diaspora.

There are approximately 1,000 African-Americans living in and working in Accra, Ghana's capitol city. The number of African-American visiting Ghana a year amounts to 10,000. Ghana attracts far more African-Americans than any other nation on the continent. This is due primarily to to mild weather, beaches, a low cost of living, and the sense that Ghana could be a spiritual homeland for many African-Americans.

According to some reports, Ghanaians are intolerant of African-Americans. They are referred to as obruni, the two word for white or foreigner, as well as societal treatment that includes such norms as the denial of government jobs, the right to vote, and higher costs for hospital visits. In his 2001 article, "Tangled Roots, for African-Americans in Ghana, the Grass Isn't Always Greener," Pascal Zachary of Wall Street Journal spoke of such mistreatment.

The African-American Association of Ghana (AAAG) denounced the article and said that it undermined a 42-year relationship between Ghana and African Americans and threatened tourist revenue. "Americans are terrified by anything that takes their comfort away," said Mr. Akbar Muhammed, spokesperson for the AAAG.

Kofi Glover, a native of Ghana and a political science professor at the University of South Florida, explained "Whether we like it or not, Africans and African-Americans have two very different cultures." Glover goes on to describe slavery as a divisive bond between Ghanaians and African Americans that could perhaps prohibit African Americans from ever establishing a permanent homestead in Ghana -- right to abode or no right to abode.

"[Ghanaians] did not experience White domination like the Africans in Kenya, Zimbabwe, or South Africa. We do not understand the whole concept of slavery, or its effect on the attitude of a lot of African Americans, mainly because we were not exposed to it."

Source: Newsletter@akomatours.com and Stacey Barney www.BlackElectorate.com -- snbarney@hotmail.com

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updated 5 October 2007