Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama has announced that Ghana will submit a resolution to the United Nations General Assembly in March seeking to formally designate the transatlantic slave trade as “the most serious crime against humanity.”
Speaking on Sunday, February 15, at the close of the African Union’s annual summit in Addis Ababa, the Ghanaian leader said the move is backed by consultations with African states and support from the African Union (AU).
“This United Nations resolution is only the first step,” Mahama said. “We believe that with the consultations we have conducted and the support of the African Union, the truth will finally be recognized: the transatlantic slave trade was the greatest injustice and the greatest crime against humanity.”
Push for Global Recognition and Reparations
According to Mahama, the draft text is a declaration on the trafficking of enslaved Africans and the racialized enslavement of African people, describing it as the gravest crime against humanity in recorded history.
Ghana, which became the first sub-Saharan African country to gain independence in 1957, has long positioned itself at the forefront of global reparations advocacy. Mahama’s predecessor, Nana Akufo-Addo, in November 2023 called for a united African front to demand reparations for transatlantic slavery and colonial-era exploitation.
The transatlantic slave trade forcibly removed millions of Africans from West and Central Africa over several centuries. According to the UNESCO, between 15 and 20 million Africans were captured, uprooted, and transported under brutal conditions to the Americas and the Caribbean.
Mahama emphasized that the initiative is being pursued in coordination with the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), whose member states have also intensified calls for reparatory justice.
“To Restore Historical Truth”
“For us, it is not just about financial compensation,” Mahama said. “It is about restoring historical truth.”
He stressed that the immediate objective is to secure international acknowledgment through the UN General Assembly.
“Our goal is to submit the resolution to the Assembly, to let the world recognize that this happened and that there has been no greater injustice against humanity in recent or world history than the slave trade,” he added. “Adopting this resolution will not erase history, but it will acknowledge it.”
The proposed resolution is expected to spark wide-ranging diplomatic debate among UN member states, particularly as global discussions on historical accountability and reparations gain renewed momentum across Africa and the Caribbean.
