President John Dramani Mahama has called for a unified African position on the legacy of slavery and racialised chattel enslavement, describing it as “the gravest crime against humanity.”
He made these remarks during a press conference at the African Union (AU) Summit, themed Ancestral Debt, Modern Justice: Africa’s Unified Case for Reparations, on Sunday, February 15, 2026.
Addressing journalists, President Mahama stressed that slavery is prohibited under international law as a peremptory norm from which no derogation is permitted.
“Following experts consultations the title had be refined; ‘Declaration of the Trafficking in Enslaved Africans and Racialised Chattel Enslavement of Africans as the Gravest Crime Against Humanity.’
“The initiative is firmly grounded in international law, slavery is prohibited under international law as a peremptory norm, a juice cogent principal from which no derogation is permitted,” he said.
He explained Ghana’s proposed resolution on the matter is anchored on three key pillars: historical accuracy, legal defensibility, and continental and diaspora alignment.
“Our approach ensures that the text of this resolution reflects rigorous scholarship, moral clarity, and diplomatic credibility,” he said, noting that Ghana had undertaken extensive consultations to strengthen the proposal.
According to him, Ghana engaged several international and African institutions to strengthen the resolution.
These included UNESCO, the Global Group of Experts on Reparations, the Pan African Lawyers Union, academic institutions, the African Union Committee of Experts on Reparations, and the African Union Legal Experts Reference Group.
He stated that earlier this month there was a joint meeting of the African Union Committee of Experts on Reparations and the African Union Legal Experts Reference Group in Accra.
Ghana also began engagement with the diaspora at the Ghana Diaspora Summit held in December last year.
He emphasized that the process has been inclusive and deliberate to further refine the text of the resolution.
Source: Christabel Opare
