President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has reiterated his call for reparations to address the historical injustices of the Slave Trade, which was masterminded by the West.
Speaking at the 78th UN General Assembly on Wednesday, September 20, President Akufo-Addo urged the world to bring the issue to the forefront for discussion and to provide appropriate compensation to Africa.
While acknowledging that the current generation of Western leaders was not responsible for the Slave Trade, President Akufo-Addo emphasized that it was state-sponsored and deliberate, with lasting benefits integrated into the economic structures of the nations involved. He firmly stated, “Reparations must be paid for the Slave Trade.”
President Akufo-Addo disclosed that the African Union has taken up the matter and has assigned Ghana the task of hosting a global conference on the issue in Accra in November. He highlighted that although no amount of money could fully compensate for the horrors of the Slave Trade, it would serve as a recognition that evil was perpetrated and that millions of productive Africans were forcibly taken from their homeland and put to work in the Americas and the Caribbean without any compensation for their labor.
He emphasized that the Slave Trade had contributed to global inequalities in resource distribution, leaving Africa at a disadvantage. President Akufo-Addo concluded by urging the world to confront and address this historical injustice that can no longer be ignored.