President John Dramani Mahama will depart Accra on Monday for New York and Pennsylvania to lead Ghana’s delegation to a historic United Nations engagement focused on reparatory justice and the remembrance of victims of the transatlantic slave trade.
The visit centres on a High-Level Special Event on Reparatory Justice at the United Nations Headquarters on Tuesday, where President Mahama is expected to convene global leaders and deliver the keynote address. The event, themed “Reparatory Justice for the Trafficking of Enslaved Africans and the Racialised Chattel Enslavement of Africans,” will bring together world leaders and high-level dignitaries to confront what organisers describe as a profound historical injustice.
On Wednesday, the President will address the United Nations General Assembly as part of activities marking the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. During his address, he is expected to present Ghana’s position endorsed by the African Union on a landmark resolution seeking to declare “the trafficking of enslaved Africans and the racialised chattel enslavement of Africans as the gravest crime against humanity.”
President Mahama’s trip will begin with a solemn wreath-laying ceremony at the African Burial Ground National Monument, where he will pay tribute to enslaved Africans whose remains were discovered at the historic site. The ceremony is intended to honour the memory of millions who endured and perished under the brutal system of slavery.
Beyond the UN engagements, the President will also undertake academic and community outreach activities in the United States. His itinerary includes a keynote address at Lincoln University, one of America’s oldest historically Black universities, as well as an interaction with the Ghanaian community at Temple University.
