Ghana: A statue of the father of our nation, Mahatma Gandhi, was taken down from its perch at the Sam Aboah quadrangle of the University of Ghana as he was accused of being a racist.

Gandhi’s statue was donated by the Indian government and unveiled on June 14, 2016. Some of the university’s lecturers and students carried out sever protests back in 2016, demanding the removal of the statue. They even launched a hashtag #GandhiMustFall movement online to strong arm the authorities into removing the statue. Their argument was that Gandhi was a racist and his likeness had no business being on the university’s premises.

The movement was led by a former director of the Institute of African Studies (IAS), Professor Akosua Adomako Ampofo.

An online petition was also brought to the members of the University of Ghana Council and the then chairman Kwamena Ahwoi. They apparently had been on the fence regarding the removal of the statue ever since.

Those who argued that Gandhi’s statue should remain stated that the racist comments he was accused of making cannot be compared to his humanitarian work and his impact on the world.

Now that the statue has finally been removed, diplomats have stated that the removal of the statue could impact the Ghana and India diplomatic relations.

On the university’s website, however, the debate about whether or not Gandhi’s statue deserved to be erected on the university’s campus in the first place, saw a lot of negative remarks against the world-renowned civil rights leader.

Some netizens have argued that there are more prominent leaders from Ghana who deserve to be immortalised on the university’s premises. One netizen asked: “I don’t think it bad demolishing it, After all there are more prominent people in Ghana So What is the statu of an india man doing in University of Ghana. I personally Have a problem With that statu. (sic)” Yet others questioned if there were statues of leaders from Ghana or any other African country in India or other Asian countries.