President John Dramani Mahama has emphasised the urgent need for a unified African stance on the legacy of slavery and racialised chattel enslavement.

He described it as “the gravest crime against humanity,” during a press conference at the African Union (AU) Summit on Sunday, February 15.

Speaking to journalists, President Mahama highlighted that slavery is prohibited under international law as a peremptory norm, a principle from which no derogation is permitted.

He explained that Ghana’s proposed resolution rests on three central pillars: historical accuracy, legal defensibility, and continental as well as diaspora alignment.

“Our approach ensures that the text of this resolution reflects rigorous scholarship, moral clarity, and diplomatic credibility,” President Mahama said. “Ghana has undertaken extensive consultations to strengthen the resolution.”

The President detailed that Ghana’s preparatory work involved engagement with multiple international and African institutions, including UNESCO, the Global Group of Experts on Reparations, the Pan-African Lawyers Union, academic institutions, the African Union Committee of Experts on Reparations, and the African Union Legal Experts Reference Group.

Earlier this month, Ghana hosted the inaugural joint meeting of the AU Committee of Experts on Reparations and the AU Legal Experts Reference Group in Accra to refine the text of the resolution.

In addition, the government began consultations with the Ghana Diaspora Summit held in December 2025, making the process both inclusive and deliberative.

Following expert input, the resolution’s title was refined to read: Declaration of the Trafficking in Enslaved Africans and Racialised Chattel Enslavement of Africans as the Gravest Crime Against Humanity.

President Mahama explained that this wording is deliberately precise, acknowledging the systematic trafficking of millions of Africans, the racialised and institutionalised nature of chattel enslavement, and the unprecedented scale and enduring consequences of these crimes.

“The resolution is not just symbolic,” he stressed. “It provides a legal and moral foundation for reparatory justice, African unity, and engagement with the global community on the historical injustices that continue to shape our societies.”

President Mahama emphasised that the resolution seeks broad African and diaspora alignment.