Ghanaian Rastafarians Challenged

Rastafarians in Ghana have been challenged to earn their stripes like other Rastamen in the diaspora. The challenge was issued by an elder Rastaman, historian and social activist Gabre Wolde aka Jah Blue at a workshop organized by the Rastafari Council of Ghana as part of activities marking the third anniversary of the Council.

The workshop was under the theme The Way Forward for Rastafari. Speakers at the workshop were Jah Blue and Ras Shango Baku.

Speaking on the History of the Rastafari Movement and Religious Tolerance and Peaceful Coexistence, Jah Blue traced the history of the movement from Jamaica and indicated that one of the founders of the faith Leonard Percival Howell visited Ghana in the early 20^th century and wrote one of the earliest books on Rastafari, the Promised Key here.

Jah Blue traced the history of the slave trade and the way the slaves who were taken to Jamaica retained Ghanaian names like Tackie, Nana, Kweku etc and the role of the Maroons in the resistance movement in Jamaica.

He spoke about the persecution of Rasses in Jamaica in the early 60s and their desire to return to Africa. and indicated his frustration with the current system that does not recognize the diasporans who return to African countries like Ghana but are not recognized as Africans.

On that note, he challenged Ghanaian Rastafarians to work assiduously to ensure that diasporans who return to Ghana for instance are granted the right to stay. He said this is crucial to the actualization of the dream of many diasporans to repatriate to Africa.

On his part, Ras Shango Baku, a Rastafari elder, author and member of the Nyabinghi Council of the U.K who edits a magazine called Thunder on his part spoke on the Role of Rastafari in Iinternatinal Politics an the Integrity of the African Union.

Ras Shango noted the phenomenal growth of the Rastafari movement and its worldwide appeal.

He questioned the role of the African Union in the invasion of Libya and called for meaningful measures to attain real unity and effect repatriation.

Quoting copiously from the speeches of His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I, ex President Mbeki of South Africa and other leaders, he stressed the right of diasporan Africans to return to the motherland.

In his closing remarks, the President of the Rastafari Council of Ghana Ahuma Bosco Ocansey highlighted the historical role of Ghana in Pan Africanism and the need for Ghanaians to blaze the trail when it comes to Repatriation.

The event which took place at the Freedom Centre of the Socialist Forum was coordinated by the Vice President of the Rastafari Council of Ghana, Ras Nana Nkrabeah Aswad.

thoughts on the black stars, woyome and......

the black stars.....
i guess that's why i stopped watching and following soccer religiously. the way it breaks your heart. soccer arouses passion and generates some intense emotions.
so when after rooting for your team and cheering them and then you lose, it can be soooo very unnerving...imagine the chipolopo of zambia, not yet having won an african cup of nations trophy, without players in the leagues that matter worldwide.
and the black stars with a galaxy of stars from the english premier, italian serie a, french league....the tournament's favorites. we thought we would walk over the zambians. our sloppy wins not withstanding, we still figured we were the best of the tournament.
so when we clashed with the zambians and in the eighth minute we had a penalty kick, we figured it was a done deal. then the leading striker of the team marched up to the ball and placed it for the kick.
asamoah gyan positioned himself for the kick and before he kicked the ball he appeared to have slipped or lost his footing because he simply tapped the ball for mweene in goal for the chipolopo of zambia to parry away to corner.
all hell broke loose, this same dude had wasted a penalty kick during the world cup in south africa. so folks were wondering whether he hadn't learnt his lessons.... however the thing about the kick is that even the greatest players in the world lose penalty kicks. so ma beef isnt with asamoah, with the benefit of hindsight.
ma beef is with the entire gfa.....thing is why did we take a crop of unfit players to the tournament when we could have taken a better selection of players there.
i call for an urgent self examination by the gfa to ascertain the wisdom in the decisions made prior to the tourney. the future of our soccer should be the focus of the administration so that ultimately our soccer can reach the pedestal it deserves.
woyome....at least the dude is out on mail and all we can do is wait and see how the case plays out. for now i rest ma fingers