ACCRA, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Ghanaians from many walks of life have told Xinhua that they were in full support of President John Dramani Mahama's call to secure reparatory justice for all Africans.
Addressing the 38th Ordinary Session of the African Union Assembly of the Heads of State and Government in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa on Saturday, Mahama urged unified efforts to secure reparatory justice for Africans and people of African descent.
"We must continue to advocate for stronger legal and institutional mechanisms to ensure that justice for the historical trauma inflicted on global Africa is not just a conversation, but a reality," said Mahama.
The president described the transatlantic slave trade as one of history's gravest crimes against humanity, which led to the forced displacement of tens of millions of Africans.
Erastus Kojo Mintah, a 72-year-old retired civil servant, said calls for justice for Africans and people of African descent who suffered historical trauma were long overdue.
According to him, the consequences of the transatlantic slave trade, colonial rule, apartheid, and genocide were quite dire, reinforcing the need for Western countries that perpetrated such heinous crimes against humanity to compensate the victims.
"Our ancestors suffered unduly as a result of the greed, selfishness, and wickedness of some Western powers," Mintah told Xinhua. "Former President Nana Akufo-Addo made the call earlier, and President Mahama is doing the same, I will support anybody who calls for justice for our great ancestors."
Sandra Obeng, 26, a final-year political science major at the University of Ghana, believed the arguments made by the Ghanaian leader and others for reparations were compelling.
"Having read about the past drama as a student of political science, I am so much convinced that some of the Western countries, to a large extent, have not been fair to Africans and people of African descent," she said. "It will be prudent to compensate the victims."
In November 2023, the Accra Reparations Conference was held in Accra, the capital of Ghana, aiming to build a united front to advance the cause of justice and payment of reparations to Africans.
Isaac Adu, a Ghanaian educationist, told Xinhua that recounting Africa's past was not a pleasant thing to do considering what the people had gone through at the hands of some foreign powers. He believed that it was not out of place for President Mahama to call for justice for the African people.
"I am not supporting the call by President Mahama because I am a Ghanaian or African. I am doing so from a humanistic perspective. I am human, and I strongly believe what was done to my fellow humans in the past was an aberration. Global leaders must consider this call and do what is needed as early as possible," he added. ■
