Mahatma Ghandi statue finds final destination in Ghana

The infamous statue of Indian revolutionist and human rights activist, Mahatma Ghandi, has been reinstalled to the premises of the Ghana-India Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence for ICT (AITI-KACE) in Accra.

This comes after the statue was pulled down last year from the University of Ghana following protests and agitations from sections of the University Community.

Some students and lecturers of the University had called for the removal of the statue because of Gandhi’s “racist identity”. An online petition was launched in 2016, and it garnered over 2,000 signatures after some students had earlier defaced the statue in protests.

India's High Commissioner to Ghana, Birender Singh Yadav, speaking to journalists Tuesday February 27 however explained that the decision to relocate the statue of Mahatma Gandhi from the University Complex to the AITI-KACE was taken in October 2016 by the Government of Ghana.

While touting the feats of Gandhi, Yandav echoed that the human rights’ activist’ path of truth and non-violence as well as his empathy for the oppressed and downtrodden, have been emulated and admired by many great leaders especially in Africa.

He was confident that, “the relocation of the statue to a prestigious location in Ghana will bring an end to what was a misguided campaign about certain writings of Mahatma Gandhi.”

Kwasi Adu-Gyan, Director General of the Center noted that the unveiling ceremony marks another milestone in the bilateral relationship between Ghana and India.



He added that, “We at the Ghana-India Kofi Annan Centre of Ecellence for ICT have no doubt our relationship with India holds a lot of good fortune for us. We are going to work to make the relationship even stronger and make sure we derive benefit for the IT industry here in Ghana.” He stated.

Ghana and India have maintained a long and fruitful relationship since the 1950s when Dr. Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of Ghana, established a cordial friendship with Jawaaharlal Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister, which eventually led to the establishment of diplomatic Missions in both countries.



On her part, the Foreign Affairs Minister stated that the “excellent” relationship between the two countries continues to flourish as India has been a great supporter of Ghana’s socio-economic development over the years.

Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey revered Mahatma Gandhi as a “great son” of India who is admired all over the world as one of history’s most transformative and inspirational figures.



According to her, the unveiling of the statue “signifies the strong bonds of friendship and cooperation between our two countries which spans over six years.”