This is not about assigning collective guilt to present generations. But injustice does not simply fade with time – it requires deliberate effort to address and redress
This month my country, Ghana, celebrated its 69th independence day. In my address to the nation, I invoked the courage and conviction of our founding leaders, who stood firm in the face of immense adversity to secure our freedom. Kwame Nkrumah reminded us that political independence without transforming the global systems that shape our economies and opportunities remains incomplete.
It is in that spirit that, this month, Ghana will table a resolution at the United Nations general assembly calling for the formal recognition of one of the greatest moral tragedies in human history: the transatlantic trafficking and enslavement of Africans as a crime against humanity, and the need for a process of repair.
John Dramani Mahama is president of the Republic of Ghana
Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.