President John Dramani Mahama has announced Ghana’s intention to escalate Africa’s long-standing call for reparative justice onto the global diplomatic stage, declaring that the continent can no longer ignore the historical injustices that continue to shape present-day inequalities.
Opening the Diaspora Summit 2025 on December 19, President Mahama said Africa stood at a critical crossroads where silence and historical amnesia were no longer viable options, particularly in the face of persistent racism, discrimination and exclusion directed at people of African descent.
He noted that recent global developments, including the derogatory treatment of Africans and people of African origin, underscored the urgent need for Africa to confront the legacy of slavery and colonialism with clarity and purpose.
“This moment demands that Africa speaks with one voice,” the President said, adding that the continent must reclaim control of its narrative and insist on justice within international systems that were historically structured to its disadvantage.
As part of Ghana’s leadership in the reparations movement, President Mahama revealed that the country would formally move a motion at the United Nations General Assembly next year to recognise the transatlantic slave trade as the greatest crime against humanity. He said Ghana expects strong backing from African states and the global African diaspora.
He stressed that Africa’s experience of slavery, colonial exploitation, genocide and apartheid could not be dismissed as historical footnotes, but rather as crimes whose consequences remain embedded in global economic and political structures.
The President outlined a broad framework for reparations, emphasising that justice must go beyond symbolic gestures. He said reparative justice should include debt relief, financial compensation, the return of looted cultural artefacts, institutional reforms and fundamental changes to the global economic order.
President Mahama also drew attention to the less visible impact of historical trauma, citing scientific research that suggests trauma can be transmitted across generations. He said healing must therefore be understood as both a material and psychological process, requiring deliberate global action.
Looking ahead, the President challenged Africans and people of African descent to define their response to history through unity and shared purpose. He said Africa’s greatest strength lies in solidarity, urging the continent and its diaspora to be more deliberate about unity than external forces had been about division.
He concluded by expressing confidence in Africa’s potential, stating that a united continent, supported by its global diaspora, had the capacity to transform historical injustice into collective progress.
