[George Floyd\Africa]
Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo: “Black people the world over are shocked and distraught by the killing. It cannot be right that in the 21st century the U.S., this great bastion of democracy, continues to grapple with the problem of systemic racism.”
Photo: YouTube
George Floyd’s murder is being condemned by African leaders and by Africans protesting.
The killing of an unarmed African-American by a white police officer in Minneapolis is sparking outrage across sub-Saharan Africa, with protests staged in Kenya and Nigeria, and political leaders voicing angry criticism.
Several dozen people gathered peacefully outside the U.S. embassy in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital, on Tuesday, while small groups of people braved heavy rain to demonstrate on the streets of Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital. Ghanaian police denied permission for a protest to be held in Accra and maintained a strong presence outside the U.S. embassy. Large gatherings have been banned in several other African nations to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
The protests in Africa add to international pressure on American authorities to ensure there is justice for George Floyd, who died after a police officer knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes during an arrest for allegedly using a counterfeit $20 bill. The objections are all the more stinging given that many African nations have been at the receiving end of U.S. criticism for violating their own citizens’ rights.
“Black people the world over are shocked and distraught by the killing,” Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo said on Twitter. “It cannot be right that in the 21st century the U.S., this great bastion of democracy, continues to grapple with the problem of systemic racism.”
Moussa Faki Mahamat, the chairman of the African Union Commission, said the continental group condemned the killing “in the strongest terms” and rejected the continuing discriminatory practices against Black citizens of the U.S.
For the rest of this Bloomberg story log on to: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-06-02/floyd-s-death-in-u-s-spurs-protests-outrage-across-africa
