African leaders must be blamed for slavery in Libya – MP

The Member of Parliament for Ledzokuku Constituency in the Greater Accra Region, Dr. Bernard Okoe Boye, has blamed African leaders for what is currently happening in Libya, where illegal migrants are being sold cheaply.

The MP said leaders of African countries who have abundant resources have either failed to utilize the natural resources for the benefit of the people or they have stolen monies meant for the development of their various countries.

It has come to light that hundreds of Africans are being auctioned in modern day slave markets in Libya for $400 per person as Libya has become the main transit hub for illegal immigrants and refugees seeking to reach Europe. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has condemned the reported slave trade in Libya, describing it as “gross and scandalous abuses of human rights”.

President Akufo-Addo tweeted on Tuesday: “The current slave auctions of Africans in Libya are not only gross and scandalous abuses of human rights, but are also mockeries of the alleged solidarity of African nations grouped in the African Union (AU), of which Libya is a member.”

The maltreatment of migrants went viral on social media Commenting on the issue on TV3’s New Day hosted by Bright Nana Amfoh on Thursday, Dr. Okoe Boye said: “It is sad to see our brothers being treated in a manner that is below that of treatment that are given to animal. We have animals in our homes that get better treatment than what we are seeing currently in Libya.

That is so cruel and unacceptable”. The New Patriotic Party (NPP) MP added: “We thought all these years that it is a different race that will treat us this way, but now, Africans are treating each other this way.

We need to investigate this matter.” But he blamed it on “the leaders on this content who despite all the resources they have made the condition worse for them. We have Africans who are suffering in their own countries than what is going in Libya so let not only talk about the migrants”.



The medical practitioner noted that “the state of our country is to be blamed on the educated, those of us who are enlightened because as we speak, Spain is now giving money to countries whose migrants are more in the country to develop the economy so that people will get job and would not migrate and even that money comes, they squander it”.

The Member of Parliament for Mion Constituency in the Northern Region, Abdul-Aziz Mohammed, who was also on the programme, called on African countries to make efforts to develop their economy to create jobs for their people.

He said such would compel their youth to stay in their various countries instead of travelling to seek greener pastures and then face these hardships.

“It remains a dent not just on Libya but in Africa because people are going there to seek non-existing jobs and we need to develop our economies,” the MP explained.

“We must be working towards more vibrant economy that guarantees jobs for our people”.