Justice and compensation for the families of Gold Coast ex-servicemen murdered in 1948
Justice and compensation for the families of Gold Coast ex-servicemen murdered in 1948
Why this petition matters
Historical Atrocities by the British Colonial Government
We demand #Justice for the families of ex-servicemen Sgt. Cornelius Fredrick Adjetey, Private Odartey Lamptey and Corporal Attipoe, who were shot and killed by the British colonial government on 28th February 1948 in Accra, Gold Coast (now Ghana).
To date there has been no justice for the families of the ex-servicemen.
The ex-servicemen, who were veterans of World War 2 and members of the Gold Coast Regiment, were murdered by British Colonial Head of Police Superintendent Imray, as they marched unarmed and peacefully to submit a petition regarding unpaid wages and broken promises to Sir Gerald Creasy, then Governor of the Gold Coast.
Superintendent Imray ordered his subordinate to shoot at the protesters, but the officer shot into the air. Imray grabbed the gun and shot into the crowd, killing the three veterans. Some 60 ex-servicemen were also wounded.
The glaring Afriphobia (racism directed specifically at Africans) in the murder of George Floyd - nearly nine awful minutes captured on camera - has rightly led to worldwide condemnation and demonstrations. But the building blocks of the contempt for African life that led to the killing of George Floyd and countless others has its roots in the past - in the trafficking of Africans, enslavement and colonialism.
We cannot sweep glaring historical injustice under the carpet. There should be justice for the families of murdered veterans - Sgt Cornelius Frederick Adjetey, Private Odartey Lamptey and Corporal Attipoe - who had fought alongside British troops in World War 2 and were petitioning the Governor peacefully.
They should not have been killed by an officer of the Crown, just as George Floyd should not have been killed by a police officer who had sworn to serve and protect citizens.
We are in the UN's International Decade for People of African Descent and demand that urgent steps be taken by the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs to right this injustice, by apologising for this wrong and compensating the families of the murdered veterans.
Awula Serwah
Africans For co-ordinator
africansfor@gmail.com
Image by ThisIsAfrica.me
Decision-Makers
- Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs