The Paga-Nania slave camp in the Kassena Nankana West District of the Upper East Region which is one of the most visited tourist attractions in Ghana is gradually becoming a pale shadow of itself.
The site is progressively losing its value and significance in terms of its tourism potential: the Paga-Nania camp has not seen any major renovation and development over the years.
The camp, according to management, if well catered for will attract a lot of tourists who will come around to learn the history of slavery.
The Paga-Nania camp used to attract almost 300 tourists everyday – both local and foreign – who visited for different purposes, but the situation has changed in recent times due to the condition of the camp.
For the past three years, the camp hardly receives visitors due to lack of proper maintenance culture as less attention is given to it by those in authorities.
Management of the camp is appealing to government to intervene by renovating and developing the camp to make it attractive to tourists again.
The camp currently lacks facilities like accommodation, washrooms, a restaurant, and a visitor’s bench among other relevant amenities.
Senior Tour Guide at the slave camp, Aaron Azumah has appealed to the government and non-governmental organizations to come to their aid to help solve challenges confronting the camp.
He also urged organizers of PANAFEST to consider staging one of the events at the slave camp to get more people to notice and patronize the place.
In 2008, the Ghana Tourist Board made some $500 million from foreign tourists who visited various sites in Ghana.
In 1704, slave raiders like Samori Babatu and Bagoa arrived in Paga and its environs, held people captive against their will and forced them into slavery.
This continuous action resulted in the springing up of slave camps in the area to meet the needs of these raiders.
They established camps in Builsa, Paga and Nania in the present day Upper East Region.
Converging at these camps, slaves were brought in from Burkina Faso, Mali and surrounding territories.
These captives were subsequently transferred to Salaga, about 150km South of Paga, where there was a major slave trade market.
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