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WEKU
Emmanuel Akinwotu

A new home for the African diaspora in Ghana stirs tensions

74-year-old Lenval Skiers at his home in Pan-African Village, in Asebu. (Jude Lartey for NPR)

ASEBU, Ghana — Nestled in the sleepy town of Asebu, a few miles inland from the Atlantic along Ghana's Cape Coast, lies a serene 5,000 acre rural settlement. A mud road at the entrance weaves through a dense, green landscape of dozens of homes and partially built concrete structures, enveloped by miles of farmland and palm trees.

"Nobody's ever lived here before," says 74-year-old Lenval Skiers, from the sun-lit lounge of his six-bedroom home and guesthouse. "It was me alone in the forest. It was idle land, but I braved it." From his wide-set balcony on the second floor, Skiers points to his large garden, full of clusters of cassava, avocado and sugar cane. Beyond lies Pan-African Village, a stretch of land recast as an idyllic haven for settlers from the African diaspora.

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