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President John Dramani Mahama will present a significant resolution to the United Nations General Assembly in March, aiming for worldwide acknowledgment of the Transatlantic Slave Trade as the most severe crime against humanity.
The president declared this on Sunday during his address to the 39th Assembly of Heads of State and Government, acting in his role as the African Union Champion for Promoting Justice and Reparations.
The AU Assembly has approved President Mahama’s proposed UN resolution.
Mahama stated, “people of African descent have all been anticipating this day.”
The truth cannot be concealed. The legal basis is robust; the ethical obligation is indisputable.
The resolution, initially revealed during the 80th Session of the UN General Assembly in September 2025, signifies the culmination of extensive efforts over the year to promote Africa’s reparatory justice agenda internationally.
President Mahama announced considerable advancements in creating continental systems to seek reparations for the impacts of transatlantic slavery, colonial rule, and apartheid. These consist of the AU Reparations Coordination Team, the AU Reparations Expert Committee, and a Reference Group of Legal Experts.
“This marked a historic turning point in the life of our Union, not as a symbolic or commemorative act, but as a strategic and international commitment,” he said, referring to the AU’s designation of 2025 as the Year of Justice for Africans through Reparations.
The President urged member states to establish national reparations commissions, engage formally with historical perpetrator states, and support the proposed Decade of Reparations to ensure sustained continental commitment beyond the commemorative year.
“Reparatory justice will not be handed to us. Like political independence, it must be asserted, pursued and secured through determination and unity,” Mahama declared.
The AU has engaged with UNESCO and the UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent throughout 2025, ensuring Africa’s reparations agenda shapes global discourse on cultural restitution, historical truth-telling, and emerging issues, including artificial intelligence.
Major gatherings from Accra to Madrid, culminating in the 9th Pan-African Congress in Lomé, have “fundamentally reframed the global narrative,” presenting reparations as forward-looking instruments for justice and development rather than backwards-looking claims.
President Mahama called on the current generation of African leadership to be “remembered not for hesitation, but for courage in advancing justice, restoring dignity, securing restitution and shaping a future grounded in truth.”
The March presentation to the UN General Assembly will mark a pivotal moment in the continental campaign for global recognition and redress of historical injustices against African peoples.
Source: Ghanatodayonline.com
