New York Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani has thanked President John Dramani Mahama for honouring the memory of the nearly 20,000 Africans buried at African Burial Ground National Monument in Lower Manhattan, New York City.

In a video shared on the X page of Joy FM on Wednesday, March 25, 2026, Mandani is heard commending President Mahama for leading a wreath-laying ceremony and also reaffirming the need to confront the transatlantic slave trade.

President John Mahama and global reawakening of reparative justice

"I want to say first thank you to the President of the Republic of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama, for hosting today's wreath laying ceremony," he remarked.

Kwame Mandani further disclosed that Ghana holds deep significance for him.

"Ghana is a nation that holds deep meaning for me. My father gave me the middle name Kwame after Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of Ghana, a leader who fought for freedom," he added.

The ceremony took place ahead of Ghana’s tabling of a landmark resolution at the United Nations.

President Mahama touched on the suffering endured by the victims of the slave trade.

He noted that the experience was one that had been physically inflicted on its victims.

“It is a narrative that was, quite literally, branded, carved, burned, and beaten into the bones of people, human beings, including our ancestors who are buried here.

“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,” he added.

He extended the tribute beyond those buried at the site to the wider human cost of the slave trade.

President Mahama to lead AU Reparation Justice Agenda

“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,” President Mahama said.

President John Dramani Mahama has been instrumental in leading Ghana's push for reparative justice globally.

His advocacy at the United Nations has repositioned reparative justice from the margins of diplomatic discourse to its very center.

Mahama's assertion that the transatlantic slave trade constitutes "the gravest crime in the history of humankind" is a historically grounded claim that demands rigorous scholarly engagement.

The United Nations General Assembly is set to vote on Wednesday, March 25, 2026, on the resolution that would designate the transatlantic African slave trade as "the gravest crime against humanity."

Watch the video below:

New York City Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani thanks President Mahama for holding a wreath-laying ceremony in honour of enslaved Africans at the African Burial Ground National Monument in Lower Manhattan, New York, sharing that Ghana holds deep meaning for him as he was named Kwame… pic.twitter.com/JcTObHy2Is

— Joy 99.7 FM (@Joy997FM) March 25, 2026