President John Dramani Mahama has said the transatlantic slave trade must be recognised as the “greatest crime against humanity” and insisted that reparations for Africa are long overdue.

Delivering his address to the 80th UN General Assembly on Thursday, September 25, he announced Ghana’s intention to push a motion on the matter.

“More than twelve and a half million Africans were forcibly taken against their will and transported to create wealth for the powerful Western nations,” he said.

“We must demand reparations for the enslavement of our people and the colonisation of our land that resulted in the theft of natural resources, as well as the looting of artefacts and other items of cultural heritage that have yet to be returned.”

He noted that while former slave owners were compensated for the loss of their “property,” the descendants of enslaved Africans had yet to receive justice.

“That ‘property’ for which compensation was paid referred to enslaved people who had been freed,” he stressed.

Mr Mahama lamented the steep decline in development aid to Africa, citing a 40 per cent drop in humanitarian assistance since July 2024.

He said Africa must therefore exercise sovereignty over its natural resources to secure its own future.

“We are tired of the continued image of poverty-stricken, disease-ridden rural communities, living at the periphery of huge foreign-controlled natural resource concession areas,” he said.

“We will continue to welcome foreign investment, but we must negotiate better for a bigger share of the resources that belong to us.”