University of Ghana Gandhi Statue in Accra

In June 2016, a statue of Mahatma Gandhi was gifted to the University of Ghana in Accra, by the Indian President. Shortly after, staff and students at the University circulated a petition calling for the statue’s removal due to Gandhi’s racist writings on Africans. In 2018, two years after the #GandhiForComedown movement protested the statue, it was finally removed. This case study explores the dynamics between pragmatic interests such as maintaining favourable diplomatic relations and public sensitivities.