News
We came to seek healing, not division – Prez Mahama
President John Dramani Mahama says Ghana’s push for reparations is about healing, not division, as he recounted progress made since his pledge at the United Nations a year ago.
“Last year, from this podium, I made a solemn pledge on behalf of Ghana, Africa, and the global African diaspora to secure full international recognition of the transatlantic trafficking and racialised chattel enslavement of Africans as the gravest crime against humanity in human history,” President Mahama said at the 81st Session of the UN General Assembly in New York.
“Some cautioned that we were reopening old wounds. But we came not to provoke division or render empty judgment. We came to seek healing. True healing requires truth; truth requires acknowledgement; and acknowledgement must lead to meaningful repair,” he stated.
President Mahama said the tragedy had for centuries been rendered in passive voice as though millions vanished into shadows.
“For centuries, this tragedy was rendered in the passive voice as though millions of African men, women, and children vanished into the shadows of time. They did not vanish. They were hunted, captured, trafficked, bought, sold, exploited, and exchanged for profit. They were ripped from the families and communities they belonged to,” he said.
“Their unpaid labour built the cities, industries, banking institutions, and empires of the modern Western world. Meanwhile, the African continent was left depopulated, with split families, structural disruption, and generational trauma,” he added.
He disclosed that on 25 March 2026, the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, Ghana tabled Resolution A/RES/80/250 in the Assembly.
“One hundred and twenty-three nations voted to affirm this fundamental truth: the transatlantic slave trade and chattel enslavement were the gravest crimes against humanity,” President Mahama said.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
News
GES directs Ashanti Regional, Obuasi Municipal Education Directors to step aside over Obuasi SHTS scandal
The Management of the Ghana Education Service (GES) has directed the Ashanti Regional Director of Education, Dr. William Amankrah Appiah, and the Obuasi Municipal Director of Education, Mr. Kwamena Owusu-Nketiah, to step aside with immediate effect.
The directive forms part of ongoing investigations into allegations of sexual misconduct involving the headmaster of Obuasi Senior High Technical School (SHTS), Mr. Zakaria Abdulai.
According to GES, the decision is intended to ensure that the investigations proceed without potential interference, nor the perception of it.
The two directors are to hand over their offices and all state property in their possession to the Deputy Ashanti Regional Director of Education, Mr. Thomas Kwame Boateng.
Management added that the headmaster, Mr. Zakaria Abdulai, also remains interdicted and therefore urged the public to ignore any news circulating that he has been cleared.
Management is calling for calm, support and cooperation as thorough investigations into the matter continue.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has joined the family of the late Professor Jason Atta Kwei Arday, the Ghanaian community in the UK, and other dignitaries for a memorial service in Southwark, UK.
In a post, Mr. Ablakwa described the service as deeply moving and unforgettable, held in honour of the late professor’s memory.
According to him, in keeping with the government’s pledge, he joined the family, Ghana’s High Commissioner to London, British MPs, Ministers, the Mayor of London, Cambridge scholars, Prof. Arday’s students and loved ones to pay respects and honour his inspiring legacy.
Mr. Ablakwa noted that Prof. Arday’s accomplishments as the youngest Black professor appointed at the University of Cambridge and his widely appreciated charitable contributions will continue to inspire generations.
“The Government and People of Ghana will continue to stand by our compatriots everywhere they are in the world. As we do so, we profess our commitment to justice, equality and the creation of a new world,” he said.
He prayed for fortitude for the family in what he described as an extraordinarily difficult time.
“We shall always remember Prof. Arday for his response when asked what he will wish to do to change the world: ‘I would take a thread and a needle, and I’d interweave love into our society’,” Mr. Ablakwa added.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
