Ghana Moves To Table The United Nations Resolution Declaring The Transatlantic Slave Trade The Gravest Crime Against Humanity

The Government of Ghana, under the leadership of President John Dramani Mahama, has announced its readiness to table a resolution before the United Nations declaring the Transatlantic Slave Trade the gravest crime against humanity. Ghana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs made this announcement in a press release published on March 19, 2026, 5 months after Ghanaian President John Mahama stated his government’s intentions to draft the resolution, in a powerful speech at the 2025 UN General Assembly.

The Transatlantic Slave Trade saw the kidnapping of roughly 12.5 million Africans from Africa, who were sold as commodities, bred like livestock, and worked to death across Europe and the Americas for over 400 years. The genesis of this barbaric trade interrupted Africa’s indigenous development, and as the West built its wealth on African slave labor, it terrorized the African continent, vandalizing its monuments, looting its treasures, suppressing its knowledge systems and distorting its history.

In February 2025, the African Union designated 2025 the “Year of Justice for Africans and People of African Descent Through Reparations”, with the aim of addressing the inequities of colonialism and neo-colonialism over the next decade. Ghana’s move marks a welcome step in that cause, and comes at a time when other African nations are also taking bold steps to reclaim their narratives and reassert their sovereignty.

🗣️ In a historical move, Ghana officially tabled a landmark resolution at the United Nations General Assembly on March 25, 2026, calling for the formal recognition of the transatlantic slave trade as the “gravest crime against humanity” and demanding reparations.

🗣️ The Resolution: Led by President John Dramani Mahama, the proposal seeks international acknowledgment that the enslavement of millions of Africans was a crime against humanity for which apologies and reparatory justice are due.

🗣️ This announcement comes 5 months after Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama’s powerful speech at the General Debate of the 2025 United Nations General Assembly, in which he declared his government’s intentions to draft the reparation resolution, and offered his fellow world leaders a stern history lesson on the transatlantic slave trade.
🗣️ Ghana’s Leadership: President Mahama currently serves as the African Union Champion for Reparations. He emphasized that the call is not just about financial compensation but about restoration, dignity, and addressing lasting economic gaps created by centuries of exploitation of Africa and peoples of African descent.
🗣️ Ghanaian government officials, including Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, have stated that the resolution aims to shift the conversation from historical acknowledgement to legal responsibilityunder international law.

🗣️ Resistance: European nations and conservative circles in the U.S. have historically opposed any and all formal reparations discussions, citing concerns over legal liability and the “old wounds” argument.

🗣️ Second only to the Alliance of Sahel States, the Confederation nations of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger-with which it has maintained closed ties-Ghana, under President John Dramani Mahama leadership, has taken some of the most bold and significant steps towards self-reliance and de-colonization of any African nation in recent years.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg06q36052o

bbc.com

Ghana demands compensation for slavery in landmark UN General Assembly vote

Nations will vote on whether to designate the slave trade as "the gravest crime against humanity".