President John Dramani Mahama met the Mayor of New York, Zohran Kwame Mamdani, who is named after Ghana’s first President, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah.

The two met at a solemn wreath-laying ceremony at the African Burial Ground National Monument in Lower Manhattan, New York, to pay tribute to the memory of nearly 20,000 Africans laid to rest at the historic site. The ceremony was led by the President on Tuesday, March 24, 2026.

The event was ahead of a vote by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly on a resolution championed by President John Dramani Mahama for the slavery of Africans to be recognised as a crime against humanity.

Visuals of the wreath-laying ceremony show President Mahama and Kwame Mamdani walking through the streets of New York together with other dignitaries, including Al Sharpton, a civil rights activist; Ghana’s Foreign Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, and a host of other government appointees.

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In a brief remark, President Mahama touched on how slavery impacted thousands of Africans.

“We lay down this wreath to honour the memories of the nearly 20,000 Africans who are buried on these grounds, some of whom were free but most of whom were enslaved.

“We lay down this wreath in remembrance of all the victims of slavery and the transatlantic slave trade – the men, women, and children who were taken from their lives and from those who loved them to be enslaved in a foreign land; and also, the people to whom they belonged… whose lives were forever altered,” he said.

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See the visuals from the event below:



















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