Mahatma Gandhi’s statue which was unveiled in 2016 by India’s former President Pranab Mukherjee, was removed after University of Ghana lecturers started off a petition in which they cited passages written by Gandhi claiming that Indians were “infinitely superior” to black Africans.
While Ghana’s government at the time said the statue would be relocated, Lecturers and students told the BBC that the statue, originally located at the University’s recreational quadrangle, had been removed on Wednesday.
The online protest was one of a number on university campuses in Africa and beyond, about the enduring symbols of the continent’s colonial past. The head of language, literature and drama at the Institute of African Studies, Obadele Kambon, said the removal was an issue of “self-respect”.
The University confirmed this, saying that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration was responsible. Law student Nana Adoma Asare Adei said;
“Having his statue means that we stand for everything he stands for and if he stands for these things [his alleged racism], I don’t think we should have his statue on campus.”