A humanist approach should be taken in addressing land issues, Dr Kimani Nehusi told the tribunal investigating ancestral land matters on Monday, even as he urged that Africans be given lands approximate in size to what they would have “humanised” on the coast.
Nehusi, a University lecturer with an extensive background in African and Caribbean history, was treated as an expert witness when he appeared before the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) at the Lands and Surveys Commission.
Though he now resides in Pennsylvania, USA, Nehusi related that he has roots in Queenstown, on the Essequibo Coast.
The professor related that Africans would have acquired lands in Guyana in several ways, and went on to name lands that were “liberated” by runaway slaves who set up maroon settlements; lands that were given during the Napoleonic wars so that Africans could plant and feed themselves; and lands acquired during the village movement.