President John Dramani Mahama has underscored the importance of remembering the victims of slavery and the transatlantic slave trade, saying it is key to preventing such atrocities from happening again.
According to him, remembrance must go beyond reflection to include documentation and education.
“We remember them through articles, oral histories, broadcast programmes, books, music, museum visits and monuments,” he said, urging Africans to do more than remember by actively preserving and teaching this history.
Addressing the United Nations General Assembly during a plenary session to mark the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, President Mahama said learning from history is essential to building a better future.
“We gain greater perspective and find a delicate balance between learning from history so we do not repeat it, while acknowledging the pain of the past. In doing so, we begin to heal individually, within our communities and across the global community,” he stated.
He noted that progress is often gradual, describing it as a forward movement achieved through small, consistent steps.
The President explained that March 25 is dedicated to honouring the memory of approximately 13 million African men, women and children who were enslaved over several centuries.
He added that the observance was established through deliberate global action, recalling that in 2006 the international community resolved to designate the day for remembrance, with the United Nations making it an annual event in 2007.
President Mahama also reiterated concerns raised at a High-Level Special Event on Reparatory Justice held a day earlier, warning against attempts to downplay or erase the history of slavery.
He stressed the need to build systems that preserve historical truth, rather than allow governments and institutions to normalise its erasure.
According to him, the atrocities of slavery were not accidental but the result of a deliberate system that dehumanised Africans and treated them as objects rather than human beings.
