President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has delivered an address on reparations at a significant side event during the 2024 UN General Assembly in New York, calling for a global reckoning with the historic injustices inflicted on people of African descent In his passionate speech, the President outlined the importance of reparative justice, while stressing that this moment in history is not merely about reflecting on past wrongs but about forging a path toward a just and equitable future. "We are not convening this evening to share words, nor are we merely reflecting on history," President Akufo-Addo began. "No, my friends, we are here to envision a new future-a future that corrects the injustices of the past and ensures that our children, and their children, are born into a world that embraces their dignity and humanity." In addressing the gathered dignitaries, diplomats, and representatives of African nations and the African diaspora, the President underscored the brutal legacy of slavery, colonialism, and systemic racism that continues to reverberate in the lives of people of African descent.
He emphasized that reparations are not just about compensation but about rebuilding the dignity and future of a people whose humanity was denied for centuries.
Akufo-Addo highlighted the historical examples of Haiti and the United States, where former enslaved peoples were further burdened instead of compensated.
He recounted the harrowing case of Haiti, a nation that was forced to pay reparations to France for the audacity of gaining its independence from colonial rule in 1804.