The National Women’s Organiser of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Dr Hanna Louisa Bisiw-Kotei, has disclosed that it was through politics that she discovered her roots as a descendant of a slave. She says she was once referred to by someone as a hawker in one of her campaign trails to ridicule her background......See Full Story>>.....See Full Story>>
However, Dr. Bisiw-Kotei noted that she is not ashamed of her past, disclosing that it was even after she entered into politics that she realised she was the fifth generation of a slave.
Speaking with Yaa Titi Okrah on Onua FM’s ‘Women In Politics’ programme, a special Friday segment on the Pae Mu Ka
afternoon political show, the NDC National Women’s Organiser explained that she is never ashamed of her roots and will always project it to inspire others who find themselves in positions similar to hers.
She asserts the act of her great great grandfather getting married to a slave she purchased to work on her cocoa farm at the time, was an honour to the woman.
“I was once told I used to sell things on the roadside and I was like that’s not an issue, I’m not shy of my background but I didn’t even know I was a descendant of a slave until I entered into politics. I had to research my background and I was told my great grandmother was bought from Dafia by her husband together with some other men to come and work on a cocoa farm.
“The man was wealthy and when he brought them, he saw she was too pretty and decided to marry her in addition to his wives. I also realised my mother’s father’s roots are from Esaso in Kumasi, the hometown of President Kufuor. And I also announced on my campaign platform that I am a descendant of a slave, the fifth generation. So if someone purchased a slave and married her afterwards, it was an honour to the woman,” she explained.