Ghana made 126 foreign nationals who have lived in the country for many years it鈥檚 citizens as part of the country鈥檚 Year of Return celebrations.
Dressed in colorful traditional outfits and holding the country鈥檚 national flag on Wednesday, the group lifted their hands as they took their oath of allegiance and became the country鈥檚 citizens.
President Nana Akufo-Addo said those conferred with the citizenship join a generation of diasporans, including civil rights activist William Edward Burghardt 鈥淲.E.B.鈥� Du Bois and American poet Maya Angelou who lived in the country.
鈥淚 am glad you have decided to make Ghana your home and thereby join several generations of Diasporans, who committed their lives to us,鈥� the president said in a statement.
The event is part of a series of activities lined up this year for Ghana鈥檚 Year of Return marking 400 years since the first enslaved Africans arrived in North America.
Launched in 2018, the campaign encourages people of African descent, whose ancestors were victims of the brutal slave trade, to return to Ghana. The government has been marketing its slave sites aggressively to African diasporans tracing their roots.
Akufo-Addo said that an estimated 75% of the slave dungeons on the west coast of Africa were in Ghana and the country recognizes its role. People were enslaved in these dungeons and then shipped from Ghanaian ports as part of the transatlantic trade.
鈥淭hat is why we had a responsibility to extend a hand of 鈥榳elcome back home鈥� to Africans in the diaspora. Many have responded to this call,鈥� President Akufo-Addo said, adding that the initiative has been a learning experience for all.
The West African country has legislation such as the聽Right of Abode聽law of 2000 that allows people of African descent to apply for the right to stay in the country indefinitely while the Joseph Project, birthed in 2007, also wants Africans in the diaspora to return.
Ghana鈥檚 parliament passed a聽Citizenship Act聽in 2000 to make provision for dual citizenship, meaning that people of Ghanaian origin who have acquired citizenships abroad can take up Ghanaian citizenship if they so desire.
Thirty-four African-Carribeans were granted citizenship in Ghana in 2016.
Source: https://cnn.it/383rJIl