By: Sarah Baafi
President John Dramani Mahama has drawn on deeply personal family history to renew calls for stronger protection of human rights and judicial independence across Africa, warning that abuses of power leave scars not only on individuals but on entire generations.
Speaking at the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights during the opening of its 2026 judicial year on Monday, March 2, President Mahama reflected on the lasting impact of Ghana’s history of military coups and political repression, recounting how his own father was twice detained under successive military regimes.
The President recalled that following the coup that overthrew Ghana’s first president, Kwame Nkrumah, his father then a Minister of State was arrested and held for more than a year, despite being summoned initially “for his own safety.”
Years later, under the military government of Ignatius Kutu Acheampong, his father was again detained after writing a letter praising national self-reliance policies but cautioning the head of state against clinging to power.
“Leave when the applause is the loudest,” Mahama quoted his father as advising a message that, he said, led to suspicion of subversion and another period in custody.
Although his father was eventually released, Mahama said the experience shaped his lifelong respect for human dignity and the rule of law. “I remain the child whose father was detained for serving his country and advising its leader,” he told judges, diplomats, and legal practitioners gathered at the court.
Using his family’s story as a broader metaphor, the President stressed that human rights violations ripple far beyond their immediate victims. “No one stands alone,” he said, noting that injustice affects families, communities, and ultimately nations.
Mahama placed Africa’s struggles within a shared continental and global context, recalling how the assassination, imprisonment, exile, or banishment of leaders such as Patrice Lumumba, Thomas Sankara, Amílcar Cabral, Nelson Mandela, and Steve Biko robbed the continent of talent and vision.
He described what he termed Africa’s “Lost Decades” from the late 1970s to the early 1990s when coups, repression, and brain drain stalled development, with per-capita growth stagnating and skilled professionals leaving in search of freedom and opportunity.
Despite Africa’s abundance of natural resources, Mahama argued that the continent’s greatest inheritance is its people and cultural heritage. He urged leaders to rethink development beyond minerals and commodities, asking what Africa’s future would look like if wealth were measured by the freedom, safety, and value accorded to its citizens.
With Africa’s population projected to reach 2.5 billion by 2050, Mahama said the decisions made today particularly around justice, accountability, and human rights will determine whether the continent’s growing numbers become a dividend or a burden.
His address set a reflective and cautionary tone for the 2026 judicial year, reinforcing the African Court’s role as a guardian against impunity and as a reminder that justice, once compromised, carries consequences that can last a lifetime.
