Mahama disappointed by US opposition to UN slavery resolution

President Mahama said that while the United States derived significant economic benefits from slavery, including infrastructure development, he did not believe the country should bear the same historical responsibility for the transatlantic slave trade as the European powers that organised and facilitated the trafficking of Africans to the Americas.

The European Union, in explaining its abstention at the UN vote, said it condemned the slave trade but had concerns about the resolution's legal formulations, including claims for reparations and the application of international law to historical events.

He said he was therefore concerned that the United States voted against the resolution while European countries with direct historical links to the slave trade chose to abstain.