Ghanaians reacted with disbelief and disappointment to Blair's speech

The whole talk about modern day slavery is a deliberate attempt to shift focus from the call for reparation. Tony Yeboah, Teacher

What started last Sunday as a note of reflection at Elmina Castle, the slave fort built in 1492 by European slave traders, ended with angry outburst by Ghanaians after the speech of the British Prime minister was aired.

"The speech lack substance," said Prof Nkunu Akyea, president of the Ghana Tour Guides Association and former head of Ghana Heritage Conservation Trust.

"He spoke as if people here would not understand. It was hypocritical and empty. Sometimes they forget that we learnt their language. His words were carefully selected as if people here would not understand."

Akyea who was one of the consultants behind the event, said Tony Blair's speech which was broadcast live from UK to Ghana: "did not do justice to the truth."

"The speech of Prime Minister Tony Blair was typical; it was patronising," he said. "To me it was undoing all the hard work and the money spent by the British Council in organising the event."

Although the events brought together artists, activists and politicians from across Africa, the Caribbean, the UK and the USA, it was in some ways a divisive one, with the speech of Prime Minister Blair sparking disappointment and anger among the Ghanaian crowd for failing to acknowledge the role played by British in the slave trade.

Mr Blair's speech he played tribute to the role played by abolitionists such as William Wilberforce and spoke of the fight which must continue today against all forms of slavery, such as human trafficking. But he said nothing of the role played by the British in instituting the chattel enslavement of Africans and made no apologies whatsoever.

"The reaction amongst the audience was certainly one of disappointment and disbelief," according to Prof Akyea.

Ghanaians see through attempt to shift focus away from reparations

Elmina Castle.

Blair's speech was an insult on Africa and Africans. It demonstrates their unrepentant attitude, pride and self-centeredness. Amah Aryee, University student

"Everyone turned to their neighbour and said, 'Is he serious?' when he compared the slave trade which existed in Ghana before the Europeans came, to the trans-Atlantic slave trade under them."

For Amah Aryee, a graduate student of the University of Legon who attended the event: " Blair's speech was an insult on Africa and Africans. It demonstrates their unrepentant attitude, pride and self-centeredness. What does it cost Britain to offer a formal apology for their role in the repugnant trade?" he asked.

"The whole talk about modern day slavery is a deliberate attempt to shift focus from the call for reparation. If Africa wasn't depleted and plundered by colonialism and slave trade, the level of underdevelopment we see today wouldn't be there," said Tony Yeboah, a high school teacher.

"He was talking about debt relief and how is it helping people in Zambia. Is the debt relief granted Africa anything near the economic damage that slavery did to the continent? Can it compensate for the labour that Europe and America got from our forebears?" asked an Accra-based African-American who gave her name as Tyra Benjamin.

In his own reaction, Exfel Clankson, Senior Museum Education Officer at Cape Coast Castle, stated: "For me, it was political talk. It was just a speech to mark the 200th anniversary because he had to say something. But if you ask me to outline what he actually said there was nothing of value at all."

Elmina Castle, the venue of the bicentenary, was sub-Saharan Africa's first permanent slave trading centre, built by the Portuguese in 1492 and later handed over to England. It is estimated that from it, over 5 million slaves were shipped to America and Europe through the infamous 'door of no return.'