#GMB2019: Finalists debate whether Africans deserve compensation for slavery

The five finalists of the 2019 Ghana’s Most Beautiful (GMB) pageant on Sunday faced off at the grand arena dome in Accra to debate the issue of slavery in Africa, with emphasis on whether Africans deserve compensation for suffering the dehumanising trade.

Ayisha [Upper East region] and Serwaa [Ashanti region] in arguing in favour of the motion, stated slave trade was not only cruel but dehumanising for Africans who were later enslaved in Europe and the Americas.

They recounted how Africans sold as slaves were exploited, and suggested the slave trade became brain drain on the African continent because it hindered economic growth.

Volta region’s Enam joined forces with Ekua from the Central region and Saah from the Western North region to oppose the motion, arguing that Africans deserve no compensation whatsoever for what they experienced.

To the GMB ‘trinity, inasmuch as the slave trade was cruel, some chiefs and leaders at the time were paid for the African slaves, hence no justification for Africans to be compensated again now.

According to them, some Africans willingly sold their own people for favours, for which reason they do not deserve compensation anymore.