President John Dramani Mahama has called for the establishment of a permanent international system under the United Nations to facilitate the return of African cultural properties taken during colonial conquest.

He said existing restitution efforts are too dependent on individual countries or institutions voluntarily returning selected objects, creating what he described as a piecemeal approach to a matter requiring a coordinated global response.

Addressing the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, President Mahama said that holding countries should work with the United Nations to develop standardised legal and diplomatic procedures covering provenance research, access to archives and restitution claims.

“Our NEXT STEP is to build a permanent, institutionalised global system,” he said.

President Mahama said such a system should make archives more transparent, simplify provenance investigations and reduce legal barriers that prevent unconditional restitution.

He argued that the process must move beyond isolated acts of goodwill towards predictable mechanisms that allow countries and communities to pursue the return of their cultural heritage.

He said Ghana’s position was anchored in the belief that restitution is not merely about recovering physical objects but about restoring historical memory and dignity to communities whose heritage was removed from them.