Africans have been celebrating the decision of an educated elite who hailed from Ghana to wear only African cloth to court.
William Esuman-Gwira Sekyi, popularly known as Kobena Sekyi was born in 1892 and died in 1956.
He was an educated elite who vowed never to wear European clothing again until his death.
Sekyi also became the first lawyer in the British colony (Gold coast) now Ghana to appear in court in a traditional African cloth.
Kobena Sekyi, he was the only educated elite in Africa who vowed never to wear European clothing again and became the first lawyer in the British colony (Gold coast) to appear in court in a traditional African cloth. He never wore European dress again until he died in 1956. pic.twitter.com/btb5RnB1B9
— GHANA FACTS & HISTORY (@GhanaianMuseum) April 5, 2021
Across Africa, judges and lawyers continue to wear European cloth with wigs with no signal of adopting African dress codes.
In 2017 then Chief Justice of Ghana, Sophia Akuffo in a statement “directed that judges wear wigs during court sittings”, a move that showed how unwilling African courts are in moving away from the old age tradition.
So Sekyi’s boldness and resolve to keep to African cloth in court, a move that would be frowned upon currently excited many including lawyers who are seeking for a change from European suits and wigs.
A real Ghanaian (or Gold Coast) nationalist. Not the so called tribalists parading as owners of the land. “Ahondze pa nkasa”.
— ~De’Yon (@JeffreyDeYon1) April 5, 2021
And he’s the Author of the book, ‘The Blinkards’. An interesting story that portrays how our culture got adulterated and replaced by European culture post-colonialism.
— Citizen Kay ?? (@izaq_kwasi) April 5, 2021
This pure kind of pan-africanism and isolationist Africanism is uncommon today.
Today, the courts may even regard him as ^ naked^ and deny him standing.— Selikem Timothy Donkor (@SelikemDonkor) April 5, 2021
Ghana: Academics upset as judges question lecturer for not wearing suit
Source: Africafeeds.com
