- A statue of India's independence leader, Mahatma Gandhi has been removed from University of Ghana after complaints that he was racist
- The statue was donated by the Indian government to the institution and unveiled on June 14, 2016
- In September 2016, a group of lecturers and students launched a hashtag #GandhiMustFall to get the authorities to remove the statue
The statue of India’s independence leader, Mahatma Gandhi, erected at the recreational quadrangle of University of Ghana has been taken down in the university.
In a report by Universnewsroom, this is following a vicious protest in September 2016 for the removal of the statue by some academics of the university who argued that Gandhi was racist and had no place in the institution.
For many diplomats, including Prof. Aaron Mike Ocquaye, Ghana’s former High Commissioner to India and current Speaker of Parliament, said the decision to demolish the statue might have implications on diplomatic ties between Ghana and India.
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A statue of Mahatma Gandhi has been removed after complaints that he was racist against black Africans. Photo credit: universnewsroom
Source: UGC
The men, in the company of university security, who carried out the demolishing of the figure said that they had “received an order from above” and could not speak to why or who exactly had given the order.
The decision to take down the figure, which was donated by the Indian government and unveiled on June 14 2016, has been hanging in the balance for about 2 years after an online petition was brought to the members of the University of Ghana Council and the then chairman Kwamena Ahwoi.
Some have even argued that the racist comments he’s accused of making come no where close to his humanitarian activities and the impact he had on the entire world.
A group of lecturers and students in September 2016, launched a hashtag #GandhiMustFall to get the authorities to remove the statue of the man accused of racism.
This was in reaction to the mounting of the statue of Mohandas Karamch and Gandhi at the Sam Aboah quadrangle of the University of Ghana.
The “Gandhi Must Fall” movement was spearheaded by a former Director of the Institute of African Studies (IAS), Professor Akosua Adomako Ampofo.
According to Akosua, the statue of India's independence leader widely acclaimed for his doctrine of non-violence is undeserving to be mounted on campus because he was a racist.
A student identified as Adelaide Twum said the move was “long overdue”. “I’m so excited. This has nothing to do with diplomatic ties,” she added.
Benjamin Mensah, another student, said: “It’s a massive win for all Ghanaians because it was constantly reminding us of how inferior we are.”
Though Gandhi is more remembered for his non-violent resistance to British colonial rule in his native India, his legacy in Africa is more mixed. He lived and worked as a lawyer in South Africa from 1893 to 1915.
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Legit.ng previously reported that Nana Akufo-Ado, the president of Ghana, has declared that churches that amass wealth through prosperity preaching will be made to pay tax.
The president of Ghana made the declaration during a synod of the Global Evangelical Church at the University of Ghana.
A number of churches in Ghana have found a way of making wealth out of conventional church practice like preaching.
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