A renewed push for historical justice is set to take centre stage this week as President John Dramani Mahama embarks on a high-profile visit to the United States, placing Africa’s long-standing call for reparatory justice firmly before the international community.
Departing Accra on Monday, March 23, 2026, the President will travel to New York City and Pennsylvania for a series of engagements aimed at deepening global dialogue on the legacy of the transatlantic slave trade and its enduring consequences.
At the heart of the visit is a High-Level Special Event on Reparatory Justice at the United Nations Headquarters on Tuesday, where President Mahama will convene the session and deliver the keynote address. The gathering, themed “Reparatory Justice for the Trafficking of Enslaved Africans and the Racialised Chattel Enslavement of Africans,” is expected to draw world leaders and policymakers to examine pathways toward redress.
The following day, he will address the United Nations General Assembly in commemoration of the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, presenting a position endorsed by the African Union.
Central to that position is a proposed resolution seeking formal recognition of the transatlantic slave trade as one of the gravest crimes against humanity, alongside calls for structured reparative measures.
Beyond the UN, the visit carries symbolic and community significance. President Mahama will lay a wreath at the African Burial Ground National Monument in honour of enslaved Africans, deliver a keynote address at Lincoln University, and engage with the Ghanaian diaspora at Temple University.
