President John Dramani Mahama departs Accra today for the United States to spearhead a historic diplomatic offensive, seeking global recognition of the transatlantic slave trade as a crime against humanity.
The President is scheduled to arrive in New York and Pennsylvania for a series of high-level engagements focused on advancing the discourse on reparatory justice and honouring the victims of slavery.
The centrepiece of the visit will be a High-Level Special Event on Reparatory Justice at the United Nations Headquarters on Tuesday. President Mahama is expected to convene the gathering 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 senior officials to deliberate on the enduring legacy of slavery and the case for reparations.
On Wednesday, the President will address the United Nations General Assembly during the official observance of the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. During his address, he is expected to present a resolution, adopted by the African Union, that formally classifies “the trafficking of enslaved Africans and the racialised chattel enslavement of Africans as the gravest crime against humanity.”
Prior to the UN engagements, President Mahama will commence his visit with a solemn wreath-laying ceremony at the African Burial Ground National Monument in New York, paying tribute to the memory of enslaved Africans.
Beyond the UN headquarters, the President’s itinerary includes a keynote address at Lincoln University, a historically Black university, followed by an engagement with the Ghanaian community in the United States at Temple University.
