By Sharon Zoe Williams
President John Dramani Mahama in his address to the United Nations General Assembly, officially moved a motion to declare the Transatlantic Slave Trade as the “gravest crime against humanity.”
Speaking on behalf of the African Group on the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, the President presented a draft resolution aimed at grounding the global conscience in truth, healing, and reparative justice.
The President reminded the assembly that progress is often made in incremental steps, noting that it has been two decades since the global community first resolved to designate March 25 as a day of remembrance.
Highlighting the weight of history, he honored the memory of the approximately 13 million African men, women, and children who were enslaved over several centuries. He emphasized that the day serves as more than just a memorial; it is a call to “document and educate” to ensure history never repeats its darkest chapters.
A key highlight of the address was the formal introduction of the resolution entitled “Declaration of the Trafficking of Enslaved Africans and Racialised Chattel Enslavement of Africans as the Gravest Crime Against Humanity.”
President Mahama revealed that this draft is the result of months of rigorous consultation and consensus-building involving continental bodies, experts, and jurists. The goal, he stated, is to achieve a “united front” that seeks compassion and a definitive safeguard against forgetting.
The President’s speech took a firm moral stand, quoting former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt to underscore the necessity of action: “With a great moral issue involved, neutrality does not serve righteousness; for to be neutral between right and wrong is to serve wrong.”
He further invoked the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., reminding the delegates that while the arc of the moral universe is long, it must be intentionally bent toward justice.
President Mahama urged the General Assembly to view the adoption of this resolution as a restoration of dignity for those who suffered the “indignity of slavery.”
He characterized the movement as a “long road” guided by a collective desire to leave a better world for future generations. “On this beautiful day in March,” he stated, “we are called to stand on the right side of history.”
Concluding his address, the President made a passionate plea for the UN to record that when history beckoned, this generation did what was right.
He called on member states to let their vote restore the humanity of millions. “Let it be recorded that when history beckoned, we did what was right for the memory of the millions who suffered,” the President concluded, marking a pivotal moment in Africa’s pursuit of global reparative justice.
