Accra, Feb. 16, – President John Dramani Mahama is set to present a historic resolution before the United Nations General Assembly in March, seeking formal global recognition of the Transatlantic Slave Trade as the gravest crime against humanity.
The Presidency announced that the President made this disclosure on Sunday, February 15, while delivering his report to the 39th Assembly of Heads of State and Government in his role as the African Union Champion for Advancing the Cause of Justice and the Payment of Reparations.
The AU Assembly has since adopted the draft resolution, clearing the way for it to be formally tabled at the UN.
President Mahama described the initiative as a defining moment for people of African descent worldwide.
“All peoples of African descent have been waiting for this day. The truth cannot be buried. The legal foundations are sound; the moral imperative is undeniable,” he stated.
The resolution was initially introduced during the 80th Session of the UN General Assembly in September 2025 and represents the culmination of sustained diplomatic efforts to elevate Africa’s reparatory justice agenda on the global stage.
In his address, President Mahama outlined progress made over the past year in establishing continental mechanisms to pursue reparations for the enduring impacts of transatlantic enslavement, colonialism and apartheid.
These structures include the AU Coordination Team on Reparations, the AU Committee of Experts on Reparations and a Reference Group of Legal Experts tasked with strengthening the legal and strategic framework for engagement.
He described the AU’s designation of 2025 as the Year of Justice for Africans through Reparations as a watershed moment, signalling a transition from symbolic remembrance to coordinated international action.
The President urged member states to set up national reparations commissions, initiate structured dialogue with former colonial and slave-trading states, and support the proposal for a Decade of Reparations to sustain momentum 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,” he said.
Throughout 2025, the AU engaged with global institutions, including UNESCO and the UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent, to ensure Africa’s reparations campaign influenced international discussions on cultural restitution, historical accountability and related emerging issues.
According to the President, major conferences held in cities such as Accra, Madrid and Lomé — including the 9th Pan-African Congress — have helped reshape global perceptions, framing reparations as instruments for justice, dignity and sustainable development rather than retrospective claims.
President Mahama called on African leaders to show boldness and unity in advancing the cause, stressing that history would judge them by their resolve to restore dignity and secure restitution.
His planned presentation of the resolution to the UN General Assembly in March is widely viewed as a significant step in Africa’s quest for global acknowledgment and redress of historical injustices.
GHBUSS
16 February 2026
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