President Mahama Calls for Global Solidarity on Reparatory Justice at African Union Summit

At a pivotal moment in global discourse on historical accountability, President John Dramani Mahama of Ghana has issued a powerful and urgent call to action. Speaking during the African Union (AU) Summit, he urged all member states to co-sponsor and champion a landmark resolution on reparatory justice for the transatlantic slave trade and racialized chattel enslavement. Framing the issue not as a source of division but as a fundamental question of ethical courage, Mahama emphasized that confronting this history is essential for addressing the structural inequalities that continue to shape the modern world. This comprehensive analysis explores the depth of his appeal, the historical context of the demand for reparations, the proposed resolution’s framework, and the practical pathways forward for international engagement.

Introduction: A Defining Moral and Political Imperative

The African Union Summit has long been a forum for continental solidarity and collective action on pressing geopolitical, economic, and social issues. President Mahama’s intervention elevates the historical injustice of the transatlantic slave trade to the apex of this agenda, positioning reparatory justice as a non-negotiable component of Africa’s future development and global equity. His statement moves beyond symbolic acknowledgment, calling for a structured, sustained, and international dialogue mechanism. This is not merely about revisiting past horrors; it is a strategic demand to rectify the foundational economic and racial hierarchies that were deliberately constructed through centuries of human trafficking and enslavement, hierarchies that persist in contemporary forms of systemic discrimination and economic disparity. The resolution he advocates for represents a formal, continental pivot from historical victimhood to proactive claims for restorative justice on the world stage.

Key Points of the Proposed AU Resolution on Reparatory Justice

President Mahama’s press conference distilled the core objectives of the anticipated resolution into several critical, actionable points. Understanding these is key to grasping the scope and ambition of the reparatory justice movement within the AU framework.

Formal Recognition of Foundational Crimes

The resolution seeks an official, collective AU acknowledgment that the transatlantic slave trade and the subsequent system of racialized chattel slavery were not peripheral historical events but “foundational crimes” that engineered the modern global order. This includes recognizing their role in financing the Industrial Revolution, building colonial economies, and establishing pseudoscientific racial ideologies that entrenched