Kwesi E Baako has challenged the widely held narrative that Africans sold themselves into slavery, arguing that although some African leaders and individuals may have collaborated with European slave traders, it is wrong to generalise their actions as the collective responsibility of the entire African continent.
Speaking during his editorial on iKulcha TV and Radio Kulcha, Kwesi E Baako questioned the tendency to portray Africans as solely responsible for the transatlantic slave trade, insisting that the roles played by European slave traders and African collaborators must be examined separately.
According to him, the fact that some African chiefs, merchants and influential individuals participated in the capture and sale of fellow Africans does not mean that the continent willingly sold its people into slavery.
He suggested that attention should rather be given to those African collaborators who facilitated the trade, questioning why they should not equally be blamed for their involvement in the enslavement of millions of Africans.
Kwesi E Baako’s comments have reignited discussions about Africa’s role in the transatlantic slave trade, particularly the need to distinguish between the responsibility of European traders who organised and sustained the Atlantic trafficking system and that of African authorities and intermediaries who participated in it.
He maintained that a proper understanding of the history requires a broader examination of the various parties involved rather than placing the blame on Africans as a whole.
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