There is no Slave River at Assin Praso - Omanhene
Assin Manso (Central Region) 18 July 17
The Omanhene of Assin Apimanim Traditional Area, Barima Kwame Nkyi XII, on Tuesday objected to any references to a Slave River at Assin Praso, saying such a claim is a mere twist of history.
He was reacting to the launch of programme of activities marking this year's celebration of Pan-African Theatre Historical Festival (PANAFEST) and Emancipation Day on July 10 by Vice-President Alhaji Aliu Mahama that mentioned a visit to the Assin Praso Slave River.
"The Assin Praso Slave River is not real and that the programme must be dropped," he told the Ghana News Agency at Assin Manso. He, therefore, asked the Ministry of Tourism and the PANAFEST Secretariat not to do anything that would mar the celebrations slated for July 26 to August 1 at Assin Manso.
Barima Nkyi explained that Assin Praso was rather the frontier for British soldiers who fought and perished in the Yaa Asantewaa war in the early 1900s and were buried there.
He said African and West Indies soldiers killed in that war were also buried at a different site but stated that the two cemeteries do not have any connection at all with the commemoration of the abolition of the slave trade and therefore with the Emancipation celebrations.
"The River Pra at Assin Praso was not and has never been a 'slave river' as the Ministry of Tourism had it published in the Daily Graphic of July 10, this year."
Barima Nkyi said Assin Manso, one of the slave routes in Ghana and identified by the United Nations Development Programme, Ministry of Tourism and the World Tourism Organisation, is the adopted seat for the celebration of the Caribbean festival (Emancipation).
He said his ancestors had preserved the slave cemetery and the Slave River (Ndonkonsuo) and had been celebrating reverential ceremonies during the annual festival of the traditional area, which has been dovetailed into the Emancipation Day ceremony since its introduction in Ghana in 1998.
GRi../
Send your
comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com