If there is one column I regularly enjoy reading in the Daily Graphic (Ghana’s leading daily newspaper), its certainly “From my Rooftop“, by Kofi Akordor. His articles are always very insightful, and straight to the point, letting the chips fall where they may. The one published on Page 7 of the Thursday May 22 2007 edition of the Daily Graphic, is one such. It’s titled: “Cricket Scores and Double Standards“.
In this feature article, he takes on the Australian government from withdrawing from a cricket match in Zimbabwe just recently on grounds of alleged human rights violation and highlights how the British grabbed lands from the indigenous people in Australia, New Zealand, and the Americas.
The opening of the article throws a light on the arrival of the British to Australia:
The Europeans, especially the British, have a unique way of grabbing land. On March 26, 1788, eleven merchant ships with 780 British convicts landed at Botany Bay in New South Wales. These were convicts, who have been sent to the island to serve their sentences doing various projects.
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Africa was not spared the British onslaught on land belonging to others. In the former Gold Coast, under the Bond of 1844, the British sought to annex some lands which were rich in mineral and forest resources. That was when they declared certain portions of the land rich in gold and timber the Crown Colony. They went ahead to colonize a big chunk of the land now known as Ghana but developed infrastructure in the few areas which served their commercial purpose.
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Today, Australia, which started as a penal colony for British criminals, is one of the loudest voices against President Robert Mugabe because of the land reforms which seek to redress the imbalance and make the black population the true owners of their God-given land.
The last paragraph sums up his thoughts:
The Prime Minister of Australia, Mr John Howard, needs to go back into the history of his country. He may realize that between him and Mugabe, one is likely to be the descendant of a British convict who is now talking like a slave master.
I agree. That move by the Australian Prime Minister to stop his country’s cricket match in Zimbabwe was a faux pas.
