Ghana’s President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has pledged to immortalize the 46-year-old African American, Mr George Floyd in Accra.
During a burial service for the late Floyd on Tuesday in Houston, Texas, a spokesperson said the family of George Floyd was honoured by the solidarity message, resolution and visual tributes from Ghana’s President Akufo-Addo and his decision to permanently mount Mr Floyd’s name at the Diaspora African Forum and the W. E. B. Du Bois Centre in Accra.
The spokesperson acknowledged a visual footage that was produced by the people of Ghana, which was broadcast to thousands of mourners who attended a memorial to pay their last respects to the late Floyd in the United States last Thursday.
President Akufo-Addo and former African presidents, had earlier condemned the killing of Mr Floyd, who was unarmed, in the custody of a white policeman in the US.
President Akufo-Addo said “Black people, the world over, are shocked and distraught by the killing of an unarmed black man George Floyd by a police officer in the United States of America.”
He said in a tweet: “It carried with it an all too painful familiarity, and an ugly reminder.”
Funeral
A CBS report said the service was held at the Fountain of Praise Church was attended by about 500 mourners including politicians and celebrities.
Reports say the coffin was expected to be taken to a cemetery in Pearland, south of Houston. for a private burial beside his mother.
For the last mile of the procession it will be conveyed in a horse-drawn carriage.
Barriers have been erected along the route to allow members of the public to pay their respects safely as the procession passes.
His body was on display at the church for six hours last Monday.
Memorial services were also held in Minneapolis and North Carolina, where Mr Floyd was born.
Joe Biden
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden visited Mr Floyd’s family to offer his sympathies last Monday.
Floyd’s death was “one of the great inflection points in American history”, Mr Biden later told CBS news.
Mr Biden has sharply criticised President Donald Trump, who is standing for re-election as the Republican candidate on November 3, accusing him at the weekend of making “despicable” speculative remarks about Mr Floyd.
“They’re an incredible family, his little daughter was there, the one who said ‘daddy’s going to change the world’, and I think her daddy is going to change the world,” Mr Biden told CBS anchor Norah O’Donnell.
“I think what happened here is one of the great inflection points in American history, for real, in terms of civil liberties, civil rights and just treating people with dignity.”
Floyd family spokesman Benjamin Crump, who tweeted a photo of the meeting said Mr Floyd’s relatives welcomed Mr Biden’s comments.
“That compassion meant the world to this grieving family,” he added.
Final moments
Mr Floyd died in Minneapolis last month as a white police officer held a knee on his neck for nearly nine minutes, his final moments filmed on phones.
Four police officers involved have been sacked and charged over his death.
Derek Chauvin, the Minneapolis ex-policeman accused of killing Mr Floyd, made his first court appearance on Monday, where his bail was set at $1.25m (£1m).
Mr Chauvin – who kept his knee on Mr Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes – faces charges of second-degree murder and manslaughter. Three other arresting officers are charged with aiding and abetting murder.
Prosecutors cited the “severity of the charges” and public outrage as the reason for upping his bail from $1m.
Protests
Anti-racism protests started by Mr Floyd’s death were now entering their third week in the US.
Huge rallies have been held in several cities, including Washington DC, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
With the rallying cries “Black Lives Matter” and “No Justice, No Peace”, the demonstrations are among the largest US protests against racism since the 1960s. Saturday’s gatherings included a protest in the Texas town of Vidor, once infamous as a stronghold of the Ku Klux Klan white supremacist group.
The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, set up a commission to review the city’s landmarks to ensure they reflect its diversity, days after the statue of a slave trader was torn down in Bristol.
In the Belgian city of Antwerp, a statue of King Leopold II, who ruled during a period of brutal colonisation in Africa, was taken down
The Democrats, who control the House of Representatives, have proposed sweeping legislation to reform American police.
Source: www.graphic.com.gh
