President John Dramani Mahama has returned to Ghana to a rousing reception ceremony following his successful push at the United Nations General Assembly, where a resolution declaring the transatlantic slave trade the gravest crime against humanity was adopted with 123 votes.
Addressing the gathering, President Mahama said the moment belonged not to him alone but to all the people of Ghana, whose prayers and encouragement he said had carried the mission forward.
“I return home with a deep sense of gratitude and humility.
“this is a proud moment for Ghana, it is a proud moment for Africa, it is a proud moment for people of African descent wherever they are in the world,” he added.
President Mahama said the adoption of the resolution was historic not only because of the vote count but because of what it represented.
“The first time the full weight of the transatlantic slave trade’s history had been placed on record on a single, universally recognised platform,” he explained.
For decades, he said, acknowledgements of the slave trade had been fragmented, apologies given in parts and in isolation, with no single moment of collective global clarity.
“This is not about the past alone. It is about justice, dignity and truth. It is about ensuring that the legacy of slavery is neither forgotten nor trivialized and it is about laying a foundation for meaningful global conversations on reparative justice,” President Mahama emphasised.
He used the occasion to publicly credit those who did the work behind the scenes, singling out Foreign Minister Okudjeto Ablakwah for the thousands of kilometers he traveled from country to country canvassing support for the resolution, and Ambassador Victor Smith and the permanent UN mission in New York for the groundwork they laid before the delegation even arrived.
“They deserve the real honor because they actually did the work,” President Mahama said. “I just provided the guidance.”
Ghana brought the resolution to the UN General Assembly on behalf of the African Union and CARICOM, working alongside like-minded nations across the world. President Mahama noted that many of the 123 countries that voted in favour had no direct connection to the slave trade, saying their support was an act of conscience, a recognition that on scale, nothing surpassed the inhumanity of what was done to black people over 400 years.
Richard Aniagyei, ISD
