Dr. Robinson Tanyi, along with three other African leaders, walked through Kingston’s Norman Manley International Airport on Tuesday and remarked, “I just feel like I am home.” They were welcomed with drumming.
The four—Tanyi, Ambassador Ireno Omositson Namboka, Queen Cynthia Khumalo Mzilikazi III, and Princess Dr. Nikiwe Bam—will be among the well-known speakers at a one-day conference on reparation and royalty, Africa and Europe: Exploding Myths, Empowering Truths, on Thursday at The University of the West Indies (The UWI), Mona campus.
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The dashiki-clad African leaders had a positive attitude as they danced to the drummers’ energetic beat, attracting the attention of numerous passersby who pulled out their phones to record the occasion.
Tanyi, who serves as both the president of the African Indigenous Governance Council and the monarch of Tino Mbu Cameroon, was excited to discuss his hopes for the conference.
“This country is close to my birthplace. The people I see around just warm my heart; I just feel like I am home. I am very happy to be here. This is Bob Marley’s [legendary reggae singer] country — that is the figure we know,” he shared with the Jamaica Observer.
“We have come to assure the Jamaicans that they are Africans, we are Africans. There is nothing different between you and me and we just wish the differences that have kept us away would finally find a place to rest and we continue as brothers and sisters,” Tanyi noted.
Bam, president of the African Young Indigenous Leaders and South Africa’s Ateker International Development Organization (AIDO) Culture and Heritage Ambassador, was delighted to be in the Caribbean and was anxious to share her excitement with others.
“It is a dream come true for us because most of the time we normally talk about the Caribbean and I have never been here before, so I am very happy and I’m very excited and I am looking forward to the whole activities that we are going to be engaging in,’ she noted.
According to Mzilikazi III of the Mzilikazi Kingdom in South Africa, she wishes to hold discussions that will help Jamaicans understand the country’s relationships with Africa.
“We are here to come and talk to the people of Jamaica to tell them how much we love them, and to also wipe their tears because we know that they are crying as they say Africans, they didn’t do well for them to end up here,” she noted.
Mzilikazi III stated, “But we are here to explain to them what happened, what transpired at that time, and also to let them know that Africa is their home and they are welcomed,” She emphasized how happy she is that the African culture is being appreciated here.
In the meantime, Ambassador Ireno Omositson Namboka, vice-president of AIDO and vice-chancellor of the African Open University in Geneva, Switzerland, who arrived on Monday night, said he is looking forward to seeing the “grandchildren of Africa”.
He noted,”We are looking forward to holding conversations with them about who we Africans are, who we used to be before people came to interrupt and take our grandparents away. We are looking forward to an exchange between siblings.”
Namboka said that this was his first visit to Jamaica and continued, “I am absolutely excited. Bob Marley, Marcus Garvey [national hero], all those other names on the continent are sentimental to us so we are really excited.”
The Caricom Reparations Commission, in partnership with The UWI, is organizing the symposium, where African leaders are scheduled to debate a variety of topics related to slavery. The organizers hope this would alter the long-held perception that African royals were involved in one of the worst crimes against humanity. The conference will also look at ways to reconnect with one another and build links between the peoples of Africa and the Caribbean, especially through commerce and investment.
