Pres. Mahama slams critics for ‘infantile arguments’ against historic UN slavery resolution

President John Dramani Mahama has condemned critics of Ghana’s historic UN resolution on the transatlantic slave trade, describing their claims as “infantile arguments.”

Speaking during a presidential dialogue with civil society organisations on Monday March 30, he said some Ghanaians sought attention or popularity by belittling the achievement.

“I do not know whether for attention or popularity, criticised their achievement and tried to belittle it and they made all kinds of infantile arguments,” he said.

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Critics had argued that Africans were involved in the slave trade and, therefore, reparations should not be discussed. President Mahama dismissed this view, emphasising the systematic nature of the crime.

“They say, so, but Africans were involved. I mean, it does not… The crime was systematic. The ships that carried the slaves were insured by reputable insurance companies that are some of the richest in the world today and profited from the slave trade. The ship owners made money,” he said.

He highlighted the injustice of compensating slave owners while the enslaved received nothing.

“Reparations, and listen to the important one, reparations were paid to slave owners for letting the slaves go. When they abolished slave trade and said the slaves could go, they compensated the person who has enslaved somebody for loss of property,” he noted.

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President Mahama also recounted the horrifying scale of the trade.

“If you know what happened to the slaves, nothing compares to it in everything that has happened in this world, to the 15 million people who were sent away. Those who died,” he said. He gave an example of a ship captain who threw 134 slaves overboard to claim insurance, treating human beings as cargo.

The president said Ghana’s diplomatic effort sought to record the truth of the slave trade and honour the memory of its victims.

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“Before now, the arguments have been fragmented. A few people have acknowledged, I know some of the leading corporates have come and apologised for their role in this, but the whole discussion has been fragmented. And so our purpose was to put it on record the true story of the slave trade, if even to just let the spirit of our ancestors rest.”

Ghana secured a landmark victory at the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, with 123 votes in favour, three against, and 52 abstentions, recognising the transatlantic slave trade as the “gravest crime against humanity.”

The resolution urges countries to discuss reparations, including apologies, compensation, and systemic reforms. The United States, Israel, and Argentina voted against the motion, while the United Kingdom and several EU members abstained.