By Hannah Dadzie
President John Dramani Mahama has commended Minister for Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa for what he described as ‘stellar leadership’ in steering Ghana to secure a landmark resolution at the United Nations General Assembly, despite intense last-minute pressure from allies to postpone the vote.
The President credited Ablakwa’s coordination and resolve at a critical moment when doubts emerged over whether the resolution could secure sufficient backing.
“When I gave notice of this motion, I did not delude myself. It was always going to be a difficult task. We needed to build a broad coalition to get this through,” he said.
According to the president, several countries, some believed to be part of the coalition appealed for a delay, warning that the resolution risked failing without broader consensus. Others he said urged Ghana to “take it easy” and refine the text.
“Even as I was preparing to travel, I received calls urging us to slow down, to delay, to tweak the language further but the Foreign Minister believed the moment had come to act now,” he added.
President Mahama revealed that on the eve of the vote, he consulted Ablakwa who he casually called “Sammy” amid mounting pressure to defer the process, with concerns that the numbers might not be sufficient to secure passage but the minister insisted that
“if we had postponed this resolution, I do not know when we would have had such an opportunity again. We had built the strongest coalition possible, and we had to move forward,” he said
He ultimately proceeded, backing what he described as a carefully constructed cross-regional alliance, culminating in what have been termed an “emphatic victory” at the UN’s principal deliberative body.
The resolution, which addresses the transatlantic slave trade and its historical legacy, has now been formally recognised within the UN system as a grave crime against humanity, an outcome Ghana has championed as part of a broader reparations and historical justice agenda.
President Mahama framed the outcome as both a diplomatic and symbolic milestone, linking it to earlier pan-African efforts led by Kwame Nkrumah, Marcus Garvey and W. E. B. Du Bois.
“This victory belongs to all of us—but most importantly to those who were meant to be forgotten. Today, the United Nations has recorded that this was among the gravest crimes against humanity,” he said.
The resolution received endorsement from 123 countries, while the United States, Israel and Argentina voted against it. A bloc of 52 European countries, along with the United Kingdom, abstained.
In an interview with the media, Mr. Ablakwa said countries that voted against or abstained had “missed the golden opportunity” to acknowledge and apologise for historical injustices, though he maintained there remained scope for future engagement, particularly with the United States.
Ghana’s strategy relied on sustained technical consultations involving legal experts, historians and policymakers, led by the Foreign Affairs Ministry, to refine the resolution’s language, an effort aimed at minimising opposition while preserving its core intent.
The successful passage is expected to strengthen Ghana’s leadership role in ongoing global discussions on reparatory justice, particularly across Africa, the Caribbean and parts of Latin America.
The Foreign Minister expressed appreciation to all 123 countries for “aligning on the right side of history.”
For Ghana, the development carries both foreign policy and domestic resonance, reinforcing its positioning as a leading advocate for historical accountability within multilateral institutions. More broadly, it signals a shift in international discourse, as member states increasingly confront the enduring consequences of the transatlantic slave trade within formal diplomatic frameworks.
