Those who applied years ago are yet to receive any response from the interior ministry, whose charter states that the process should take only six months. Only Rita Marley, wife of late reggae icon Bob Marley, has been granted the indefinite stay, and that happened only last year. And recently, the country set up a Diaspora Affairs Bureau under the foreign affairs ministry to provide a sustainable link between the Ghanaian diaspora and various government agencies to achieve developmentīut it has not been so simple for African-Americans and Caribbeans in Ghana. In 2000, the country passed a law on the ‘Right of Abode’, which allows a person of African descent to apply and be granted the right to stay in Ghana indefinitely. The country has had a long history, from the days of its first president, Kwame Nkrumah, of encouraging the return of persons of African descent to help with the continent’s development. Ghana, from whose shores the majority of 15 million Africans passed into slavery, has invited its descendants in the diaspora to return home. To promote the respect for and protection of their human rights, the UN General Assembly proclaimed 2015–2024 as the “The International Decade for the People of African Descent”, to be marked annually on 25 March. Millions more live in other parts of the world, outside of the African continent, and in most cases they experience racism and discrimination. Chamberlain, a former dentist, says while her native Jamaica is more beautiful, it is not as peaceful as Ghana.Ĭurrently, there are around 200 million people in the Americas identifying themselves as of African descent, according to the United Nations. “Ghana is definitely home, I’m going to spend the rest of my days here.” She misses her mother and siblings who still live in London but she doesn’t miss London. “When I got off the plane, I just had this overwhelming feeling come over me,” Claudette says, adding that she realized then that Ghana was the place she wanted to be. Seven years ago, she moved to Ghana and built a five-bed guesthouse at Prampram. She was born in Jamaica but lived in the US and United Kingdom. “It’s good to know that you came from some place and it’s not just a figment of someone’s imagination,” he says.Ĭlaudette Chamberlain shares Mr. Thompson, the feeling of being “home” on the continent is satisfying. While some returnees have gone through the emotional journey of tracing their families through DNA testing, for the majority who just come to visit, or to settle like Mr. Whatever their motives, Ghana, the first sub-Saharan Africa country to shake off colonial rule 58 years ago, has become the destination of choice for diasporans looking for a spiritual home and an ancestral connection in Africa.
Thompson is one of the 20 or so African-Americans and other people from the diaspora of African descent who have found a home in this fishing community, attracted by the beaches and the peace and tranquility the town offers away from the hustle and bustle of Accra.Īccording to 2014 estimates, more than 3,000 African-Americans and people of Caribbean descent live in Ghana, a country of about 26 million people. “I was so ready to turn my back on the United States,” he says, adding: “We did so much for the US, yet they don’t want to see us as first-class citizens.” Thompson’s, the sign that hangs on that infamous door today reads: “Door of Return”. That trip took him to many attractions across the country, including the Cape Coast Castle from where centuries ago millions of Africans walked through the infamous “Door of No Return” into slave ships bound for plantations in the Americas and the Caribbean, never to set foot in their homelands again.īut for their descendants like Mr.
“It was good seeing black people, my people, in charge of the country (Ghana).” “I fell in love with Ghana and its people,” he recalled, during an interview with Africa Renewal. He first visited the West African country on a tour in 2000. Thompson, a native of Maryland in the United States, retired to Ghana 11 years ago.
“Where else can I live this close to the ocean? It would cost me millions of dollars!” Thompson, an African-American retiree taking a stroll on the beach where palm trees shade hand-carved canoes. “The ocean helps me fall asleep and wakes me up in the morning,” says Mr. His self-designed furniture is made from quality Ghanaian timber and hand-carved by local artisans.
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The floors, windows and doors are made of hard wood. Thompson’s house is resilient to the effects of the salt and wind. Located only 500 metres from the water, Mr. In Prampram, a town just an hour’s drive east of Ghana’s capital Accra, many holiday houses line the shores of the South Atlantic Ocean.
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