Ghana Leads Bold UN Bid to Declare Slave Trade a Crime Against Humanity
Ghana is taking the fight to the United Nations on 25 March with a daring resolution to officially label the transatlantic slave trade a crime against humanity. Backed by the African Union (AU), the move aims to force former colonial powers – including Britain – to face the music and pay reparations.
African Union and Caribbean Nations Join Forces Over Reparations
The AU, representing all 55 African countries, sealed the alliance at their recent summit. Caribbean nations have jumped on board, pushing claims potentially worth trillions. Ghana’s Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa declared at the UN summit:
“By standing together at the United Nations, we signal to the world that Africa will no longer allow the scale of its historical suffering to be minimised. We seek not only recognition, but a global legal framework that paves the way for healing, accountability, restitution and restorative justice.”
Ablakwa also stressed the resolution demands reparations, including the return of looted cultural treasures stolen during colonial rule.
Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy Joins Reparations Campaign
Labour backbencher Bell Ribeiro-Addy has slammed the UK government for dodging reparations talks. Speaking at a London conference, she called on ministers to own up to the “enduring legacies of slavery and colonialism.”
“Reparations are not about relitigating historic injustices, they are about remedying the deep-rooted inequalities that still shape our world today.”
Other European countries with colonial pasts – France, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, and Germany – also face rising claims, blamed for slavery and environmental damage too.
UN Resolution Could Force Binding Reparations Deals
The 25 March deadline sets up a diplomatic showdown. If the resolution passes, it will establish the first global legal framework demanding reparations from former colonial powers to African and Caribbean nations.
Ghana stands at the forefront of this historic campaign, leading the AU’s 55 nations in a new push to make the world pay for centuries of exploitation and suffering.
