How did our forefathers see the emergence of European colonialism in the Gold Coast.

In one of their extended conversations with Rømer, they shared a revealing perspective on the past and present conditions of the Gold Coast. They were very sad about the coming of Europeans to the Gold Coast, especially the manner in which their traditional customs had been bastardised; how the coastal people had sold inland ethnic groups into slavery and the desire of these ethnic groups to kill the people of Accra should the European leave the coast. Rømer captured their views succinctly here:

“It is you, you Whites, who have brought all wickedness amongst us. Would we have sold each other had you not come amongst us? The greed we have for your enchanting merchandise and spirits has made it so that one brother does not trust another nor one friend another, indeed, even a father his son. From our forefathers, we know that only the malefactor who has committed murder twice would be stoned or drowned, otherwise, the usual punishment for one who has committed a wrong had to carry a large log to the victim and go before his house for three successive days and beg for pardon on his bended knee, In our youth we have known many thousands of families here and there along the coast, and now one can only count a few hundred people. And what is worse is that you have become a necessary evil (malum necessarium) among us, for if you leave, then the inland Blacks would not allow us to live half a year, but would come and kill us together with our wives and children, and this hate they hold against us is your fault.”

Source: Kweku Darko Ankrah