Saturday, March 15, 2025

How colonial masters worshipped God while maltreating Ghanaian slaves at the fort

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As March marks Ghana Month, GhanaWeb takes a closer look at the history of the slave trade at Fort Amsterdam.

In an exclusive interview on People and Places on GhanaWeb TV, Joseph Kofi Kakraba, the caretaker and tour guide of the fort, shared insights into how white colonial masters first arrived in Ghana as pastors, gaining the trust of the local people.

However, these same colonial masters later initiated slave trade activities at the fort. Shockingly, they held church services to worship God while simultaneously subjecting enslaved people to brutal treatment.

Kakraba recounted that while religious services were in progress, slaves were enduring inhumane conditions, with some even dying in the process.

“They brought the church and their Bibles here, and this was done in all the castles used for slavery. At this place, the church was upstairs, while beneath the building, the slaves were kept. So, they were worshiping God while people were suffering and dying, and they didn’t care at all. They came for business to capture people as laborers to work for them,” he told GhanaWeb’s Etsey Atisu.

The Fort Amsterdam tour guide condemned the cruelty of the colonial masters, who outwardly presented themselves as devoted Christians.

“If someone arrives wearing a cassock, you assume they are peaceful. But if you see a soldier with a gun, you would be on guard. They came in that way so we would listen to them. Inwardly, they were like wolves because they had already planned these things, which is why they built forts and castles,” he added.

Watch the interview below:

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