President John Dramani Mahama has welcomed the UK government’s openness to a formal apology and structured dialogue over the transatlantic slave trade, describing the development as a potential turning point in the international campaign for reparatory justice.
Mahama said the statement by UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham represented a significant shift in addressing Britain’s historical role in slavery and colonialism, although he urged caution as discussions move towards concrete action.
The response, issued on Sunday, follows what Mahama described as the landmark adoption of a Ghana-led United Nations resolution declaring the transatlantic slave trade and the racialised enslavement of Africans the gravest crime against humanity. The UK abstained from the vote.
Mahama, who serves as the African Union’s Champion on Reparations and chairs the Global Advisory Panel on Reparatory Justice, said the UK’s willingness to consider an apology and dialogue could help build international support for addressing the legacy of slavery.
Ghana wants discussions to involve the African Union, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the African diaspora and countries that participated in the system of chattel enslavement. Mahama said differences over the scope and form of reparations should not prevent the parties from pursuing a common objective.
The proposed agenda extends beyond a formal apology to include measures to dismantle systemic racism and Afrophobia, investments in education, science, youth empowerment, climate resilience and healthcare, and the restitution of cultural heritage taken from affected communities.
It also calls for development partnerships to address structural poverty and what Mahama described as inequities in the global economic and debt systems that constrain developing countries. He cited Ghana’s Accra Reset initiative and the Bridgetown Initiative as part of the broader discussion.
The president said the Accra Next Steps Commitments, CARICOM’s Ten Point Plan and African Union declarations on reparatory justice offered frameworks for negotiations.
Ghana’s position reflects its historical links to the transatlantic slave trade. The country is home to major former slave-trading forts and castles, including Cape Coast, Elmina and Christianborg, which Mahama described as enduring reminders of the forced removal and enslavement of Africans.
He said acknowledgement of the atrocities and a formal apology would not reverse the harm inflicted on millions of people but could mark a break from historical denial and create conditions for healing and repair.
Mahama also expressed solidarity with African Union member states, CARICOM governments and people of African descent in the Americas, saying Ghana was prepared to work with the UK and other partners towards what he called lasting justice and reconciliation.
