On Thursday, October 14, 2021, BanFaaba President Mario Ceesay and Decade of Return Coordinator Siphiwe Baleka met with H.E. Dr. Erieka Bennett, Founder and Head of Mission, at the Diaspora African Forum (DAF) headquarters in Accra, Ghana, to discuss Guinea Bissau’s Decade of Return Initiative.
ABOUT THE DAF
The DAF website states,
“The Diaspora African Forum (DAF) is an African Union (AU) endorsed non-profit organization opened on July 7, 2001 by H.E. President J.A.Kufuor. DAF was and remains the first and only African Diaspora organization in the world with diplomatic status enabling DAF to accomplish groundbreaking work in Diaspora advocacy at the highest levels of government in Ghana and Africa in general.
DAF’s mandate is to support the AU and Member States towards the integration of Africans in the Diaspora while strengthening African Diaspora engagement in Ghana and continent wide. DAF plans to continue its efforts as a change agent towards the development of solid policies for the reintegration of the Diaspora Africa worldwide.”
“We wanted to learn from Dr. Bennett about Ghana’s Decade of Return and specifically about setting up a ‘diaspora desk’ with diplomatic status in Guinea Bissau,” said Siphiwe Baleka. “When you want to know how to do something, you talk to people who have already done it.”
Dr. Bennett emphasized that the DAF aim is to do just that - help Diasporans establish diplomatic missions in all the African Union member states. This is incredibly important now more than ever as Afrodescendants in America are leaving in greater numbers and returning to their ancestral homelands and obtaining citizenship.
Mr. Baleka helped draft a Motion to the African Union Executive Council that is also meeting today, calling for action to expedite the participation of the African Diaspora within the structures of the African Union. The motion
“REQUESTS the AU member states to put in place and enact policies to:-
i) Establish an African Diaspora Desk mandated to ensure that the African Diaspora sub-group - consisting of the specific group of people of African origin, born outside the African Continent, who have never had access to an automatic birthright to claim a specific African citizenship or nationality due to the horrific legacy of the transatlantic slave trade, but recognise their Right To Return (RTR) to their ancestral homeland - have their specific needs met to achieve successful repatriation with a recommendation that the African Diaspora Desk works in partnership with the Diaspora Advisory Board instituted by the Declaration Of The Global African Summit 2012 for each member state.
ii) Implement legislation to assist African Diaspora RTR Repatriates with acquiring residency, an expedited path to citizenship, land acquisition, and cultural integration programs which includes the creation of a special immigration category to allow ease of repatriation for this group.
iii) Promote joint work between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Immigration, Home Affairs and Pan African CSOs, that can satisfy the ECOSOCC requirements to become a recognised CSO, to ensure enforcement of said policies as it relates to the ease and successful repatriation of African Diaspora RTR Repatriates.
(iv) Create a direct link from the African Diaspora Desk in all member states to CIDO, to implement appropriate African Diaspora Engagement and Assistance strategies for that African Diaspora RTR group across AU member states.
(v) Direct the African Diaspora Desk and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to work on the realization of Vision 2063 with the African Diaspora:-
According to Mr. Baleka, “We are not simply tourists nor are we just investors. We are a special category of people returning to our ancestral homelands that remain our birthright. We are recovering from ETHNOCIDE, it’s Transgenerational Epigenetic Effects, and repairing the damage it caused.”
BanFaaba President Mario Ceesay said, “The meeting with Her Excellency, Dr. Bennett was extraordinary. We look forward to her assistance in helping Guinea Bissau realize the benefits of a Diaspora program, which has served Ghana so well.”
During the meeting, the possibility of a DAF diplomatic mission to Guinea Bissau for its November Decade of Return event was discussed.
“We intend to brief Her Excellency, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Ms. Suzi Barbosa, as soon as we return,” said Mr. Baleka, who is in Ghana competing in the 14th African Swimming Championships.
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