Afrodescendants Right of Return Champion Urges Republic of Guinea Bissau Council of Ministers to Approve Twenty-Nine More Citizenships

Bissau, October 14 - The President of the Balanta B’urassa History and Genealogy Society in America (BBHAGSIA) Mr. Siphiwe Baleka today delivered letters to Prime Minister Braima CAMARA, President of the Council of Ministers & Parliamentary Relations Malal SANE and Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation, & Communities Carlos Pinto PEREIRA urging the Council of Ministers to speedily approve of the nine (9) naturalization applications it has received already through BBHAGSIA’s Decade of Return program and twenty (20) more that are being delieverd to the Conservator at the Ministry of Justice which is the second step of the process. This follows after Mr Baleka, serving as Special Envoy to Burkina Faso, also delivered a Petition to the  President of Faso, Head of State, His Excellency Captain Ibrahim Traoré to Launch a Decade of Return Initiative and Provide Citizenship to the Descendants of the People of Burkinabe Origin and Afrodescendants Who were taken from their Ancestral Homeland and Enslaved in the Americas.

ENGLISH TRANSLATION

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COUNCIL OF MINISTERS SPEEDY APPROVAL OF THE NINE AFRODESCENDANT NATURALIZATION APPLICATIONS

Your Excellencies,

As President of the Balanta B’urassa History & Genealogy Society in America (BBHAGSIA) and creator of the Decade of Return Initiative that was launched on February 23, 2021 in partnership with the Secretary of Tourism of Guinea Bissau, I write to encourage the Council to speedily approve the nine Afrodescendent naturalization applications which you have received from the Conservator of Criminal Records at the Ministry of Justice. These are: Maurice Banda, Marcus Bourn, Anginette Browder, Matthew Brown, Raul Garcia, Keith Otuomagie, Andre Queen, Arsahe Rahh and Robin Rue.

I take this time to thank you for the citizenships already granted on January 16, 2025 and February 6, 2025 bringing the total number granted to twenty-one, including my own which was the first to be granted. This has earned a Letter of Commendation from the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (see attached). I will be sure to inform Hon. Dr. Litha Musyimi-Ogana, Chairperson of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations/Communities and Minorities in Africa as soon as they are approved, which of course will continue to earn much praise. It should be noted that there are an additional twenty more applications that will soon be submitted to the Conservador. It is our hope that all of them can be approved before the end of the year so as to give them plenty of time to prepare to attend our big Balanta cultural festival in February in conjunction with next year’s carnival and obtain their much valued Guinea Bissau passport, as several of the previous group did on May 16 and June 11, 2025.

In closing, it is a very propitious moment for Guinea Bissau to attract the attention of Afrodescendants. On the one hand, Benin has launched its acclaimed program for Recognition of Beninese nationality for Afro-descendants. On the other hand, Burkina Faso has suffered a great loss of support when it issued its Code of Persons and Family in Burkina Faso (Law No. 012-2025 ALT on CPF) that failed to recognize the Afrodescendants’ Right to Return and grant citizenship for the approximately 1,200 people that were encouraged to apply.

By granting these nine and twenty citizenships now and at the end of the year, the Republic of Guinea Bissau will demonstrate that just as it was a leader at the beginning of the African Union’s 2025 Year of Justice for Africans and People of African Descent Through Reparations, it is still the leader at the start of the African Union’s Decade of Reparations 2026- 2036.

Most respectfully,

Siphiwe Baleka, 

Founder, Balanta B'urassa History & Genealogy Society in America (BBHAGSIA)

Coordinator, Decade of Return Initiative in Guinea Bissau

cc:

President Umaro Sissoco EMBALO;  Min. of Agriculture & Rural Development Queta BALDE;  Min. of Commerce Orlando Mendes VIEGAS; Min. of Culture, Youth & Sports Alfredo MALU; Min. of Economy, Planning, & Regional Integration Soares SAMBU; Min. of Energy Fidelis FORBES; Min. of Environment, Biodiversity, & Climate Action Viriato SOARES CASSAMA; Min. of Finance Ilidio Vieira TE; Min. of Fishing & Maritime Economy Abel da Silva GOMES; Min. of Industry, Processing, & Promotion of Local Products Florentino Fernando DIAS; Min. of the Interior & Public Order Botche CONDE; Min. of Justice & Human Rights Maria do Ceu SILVA MONTEIRO; Min. of National Defense Dionisio CABI; Min. of National Education, Higher Education, and Scientific Research Queba DJAITE; Min. of Natural Resources Malam SAMBU; Min. of Public Administration, Employment, Vocational Training, & Social Security Monica Buaro DA COSTA; Min. of Public Health Augusto GOMES; Min. of Public Works, Housing & Urban Development Jose Carlos ESTEVES; Min. of Social Communication Maria da Conceicao EVORA; Min. of Territorial Administration & Local Government Aristides Ocante DA SILVA; Min. of Tourism & Handicrafts Secuna BALDE; Min. of Transport Marciano Silva BARBEIRO; Min. of Telecommunications & Digital Economy Julio Mamadu BALDE; Min. of Veterans' Affairs Aly HIJAZY; Min. of Women, Family Affairs, & Social Solidarity Maria Inacia Co Mendes SANHA; Ambassador to the US Maria Da Conceicao NOBRE CABRAL; Permanent Representative to the UN, New York Samba SANE

BBHAGSIA President Siphiwe Baleka and Decade of Return Coordinator Daiana Taborda Gomes with Guine Bissau Minister of Foreign Affairs H.E. Carlos Pinto Pereira, during a meeting in December 2023 discussing the details of the proposed citizenship ceremony.

Friday, May 16, 2025 Bissau - Four Afro Descendants of Guinean origin, Balanta descendant Fabian Anthony, and three sisters and Fula descendants, Joyce, Shirley and Rosemary Goodson, received their Guinean passports from the Director of Immigration, Lino Leal da Silva at the Office of Immigration in Bissau, Guinea Bissau.

From left to right, Claudio Altip, Assistant Coordinator, Decade of Return program; Siphiwe Baleka, President of the Balanta B’urassa History and Genealogy Society in America (BBHAGSIA) and Coordinator of the Decade of Retrun program; Titna “Joshua Roberts”; and Coronel Lino Leal Da Silva, Diretor Geral, da Migrcao e Fronteira e Ministerio do Interior