President John Dramani Mahama has urged the United Nations and the international community to formally declare the transatlantic slave trade as the greatest crime against humanity and to demand reparations for Africa.
He said the continent endured centuries of brutality and economic exploitation, with more than 12.5 million Africans forcibly captured and shipped across the Atlantic to build wealth for Western powers.
He added that the call for justice should also extend to colonial rule, which stripped Africa of its natural resources and cultural heritage.
Addressing the 80th United Nations General Assembly in New York on Thursday, September 25, Mahama announced Ghana’s plan to introduce a motion at the UN to back this demand.
“The slave trade must be recognised as the greatest crime against humanity. As African Champion on reparations, Ghana intends to introduce a motion in this August body to that effect. More than twelve and a half million Africans were forcibly taken against their will and transported to create wealth for the powerful Western nations,” he said.
The President stressed that European powers not only plundered Africa’s natural resources but also looted priceless artefacts and cultural items, many of which remain outside the continent.
“We must demand reparations for the enslavement of our people and the colonisation of our land that resulted in the theft of natural resources, as well as the looting of artefacts and other items of cultural heritage that have yet to be returned in total,” Mr. Mahama told the world leaders.
He further criticised former colonial governments that paid compensation to slave owners for the “loss of property” when slavery was abolished, describing it as an injustice that continues to haunt Africa.