Bishop Joseph Francis Kweku Essien has commented on how disturbing the growth of Chinese influence in the country is becoming. The bishop of Wiawso is not against Chinese immigrants coming into the country, his major plea is for the government to check the negative influence the Chinese are having on the communities and places they settle in. Primarily because the majority of these Chinese immigrants settle in rural areas.
The bishop made his remarks in a way which certainly expressed his displeasure at the ongoing menace. Here is a transcript of an excerpt from his speech
“We are in captivity in the sense that, a country like ours, a country which mines gold, diamond, manganese, bauxite, a country which has timber, which produces cocoa in abundance… And we have a country which is also now having oil in commercial quantity. But go to our hospitals, or many of our hospitals, if not all of them, and see what is happening there. Pregnant women lying down, lying down! Are we not in captivity, are we not in exile? We are!”
Most social scientists and laypeople still believe that we Africans and blacks in general are still in slavery – as though the 300 years was not enough – not in the form of the last three centuries, but a mental one now. And this mental slavery is the underlying cause of this Chinese influx in the country.
Tensions Between Chinese And Ghanaian Communities
Chinese immigration can be traced to as far back as the 1940s before Ghana’s independence, when Ghana and then Hong Kong were both colonies of the British Empire. It has since been a gradual process until about half the last decade when small scale illegal mining, galamsey, rose to a horrendous manner; something these Chinese immigrants served as a catalyst to. The estimated number of Chinese immigrants in the country at the moment is about 700,000.
Most of the immigrants come in as traders who are looking to make a fortune for themselves outside of their country with the hopes of returning, but more often than not they end up staying. Tensions then begin to rise as most of these people as most of these traders are accused by Ghanaian locals as ignoring trading rules in the country, and they in turn accusing the Ghanaians of being racist to them.
One of such places in the country where the Chinese have invaded massively is Wassa Akropong, which is now known as “Wassa China”. Bishop Essien remarked that “Chinese are now roasting plantain and selling sugar cane. These Chinese are using our people,”.
What is sad is that authorities in the country are very much aware of what these immigrants are doing in the country laments Bishop Essien. “There are assemblymen and MPs … there are chiefs and they see it. It is like nobody can talk about it. For what gain we are getting only God knows. So we are slaves in our own land,”
The Ghana Union Of Traders Association has also complained against the acts of some Chinese traders in the country. A spokesperson of the association, Ali Ahmed, mentioned
“They are collecting all retail businesses in Ghana. Some Chinese are roasting plantain, others are selling sachet water… What of those our youth, brothers, children who leave school and there is no work? At the moment there is a freeze on employment, how do we survive? Crime is the only answer and we don’t want it to be so,”
The new Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, Shi Ting Wang, has on the other hand called for both Ghanaians and Chinese to find a way to come together to build a stronger and better alliance. Probably because Ghana is one of China’s huge trade partners. As to how this alliance will check Chinese influence in this country is yet unknown, however, what we can hope for is that our authorities do something about this and do it fast.
