By Ebuka Onyekwelu, Ph.D
The West African country of Ghana has officially written to the United Nations General Assembly to pass a resolution designating the transatlantic slave trade formally as the gravest crime against humanity. This effort, Ghanaian authorities said, is geared towards a global recognition of the depths and length of the impact of slave trade on Africa.
In his recent speech in New York, the President of Ghana, John Mahama, argued that it is time for the world to formally recognize the long-term consequences of slave trade and how that also impacted African realities. There is a vast literature by African and non-African political economists blaming slave trade and colonialism for the present conditions of Africa.
Reacting to the position of Ghana, the country’s foreign minister, Samuel Ablakwa, observed that the action taken by his country was not only to call the world’s attention to reject the argument that slave trade belongs in the past, but also to mobilize against the injustices of slave trade.
This move by Ghana might open an opportunity for repatriation to African countries over losses in human capital suffered during slave trade era. However, as of today, the bulk of Africa’s problems remain within. A lack of focused leadership and a lack of commitment to their own people by African leaders have continued to undermine Africa and the continent’s chances of growth, social cohesion, and stability. It is therefore not exactly clear how the proposed recognition of slave trade as a crime against the humanity of Africans, so to speak, by the UN, will suddenly address deep leadership and social disorder across the African continent.
