Mercy Little Smith on being born to a Liberian, adopted by Ghanaians

According to actress Mercy Little Smith, her roots were not in Ghana and she was not Akan (Fante) as was popular thought.

She explained what she knew about her origins to Nana Romeo on Accra 100.5 FM in a 2018 video which has resurfaced on the internet after her demise.

She said her adoptive mother called Mercy told her, her biological mother was a Liberian.

Birth

“I learned when the war happened in Liberia, my mother was in a ship that docked in Nigeria. She got down to buy something but never returned,” she said. “It seems she was pregnant when she came to Ghana and gave birth to me here.”

According to her, upon learning this, she “wept bitterly” and visited the Liberia Camp along the Accra-Cape Coast Highway where she met a woman who said she knew her biological mother.

Furthermore, at the camp, she said she met a man with whom her mother had another child.

“He even thought I was my mother. He exclaimed I looked so much like her, and called my step sibling to come see me,” she said.

She said she knew nothing about her biological father, however.

Adoption

“Those who adopted me are all dead, also,” Mercy Little noted.

She explained her siblings were her adoptive father’s original three children.

“My adoptive mother never had a child of her own. She named me Little because she had found a cherished baby and named me after herself [Mercy Little],” she added.

Mercy noted, “They took very good care of me. Excuse me to say I didn’t grow up in a poor village. I was raised at [the plush] Anaji Estate [in Takoradi]. We [even] shared a wall with the late [Highlife icon] C.K. Mann. He knew me very well.”

She fondly recalled how anytime she protested going to school as a little girl, C.K. Mann would spontaneously make up a song to encourage her to go.

“He’d take his guitar and start playing and singing,” Mercy Little said mimicking guitar lines with her mouth, and reliving her duets with C.K. Mann.

Liberia

Mercy Little indicated she had never bothered going to Liberia.

“I love my foster parents so much,” she said. “I wouldn’t even have known about my Liberian background were it not for someone and some circumstances.

“I had to know, anyway.”

Notwithstanding the twists and turns of her story, she said she was “very strong and very happy”. In fact, she noted being inspired to establish an orphanage.

Mercy Little Smith was a beloved film star popular for her portrayal of Benyiwaa in the hit TV series Efiewura.