President John Dramani Mahama appears to have taken a swipe at award-winning investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni and other critics of the demand for reparations to African countries over slavery, which was part of the United Nations resolution he (Mahama) championed.

Even though the president did not directly name Manasseh Azure, the investigative journalist was among the first critics who said African countries do not deserve reparations because some Africans were complicit in the slave trade.

'Who sold the slaves?' - Manasseh challenges Mahama's call for reparations to Africa

Reacting to these criticisms at his Presidential Dialogue with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), the President could not hide his displeasure about the criticisms, describing them as childish remarks by persons who may be seeking attention.

“A few of our people, I don't know whether for attention or popularity, criticised their achievement and tried to belittle it, and they made all kinds of infantile arguments. They say so, but Africans were involved… The crime was systematic. The ships that carried the slaves were insured by reputable insurance companies that are some of the richest in the world today because they profited from the slave trade. The ship owners made money.

“And listen to the important one, reparations were paid to slave owners for letting the slaves go. When they abolished the slave trade and said the slaves could go, they compensated the person who had enslaved somebody for loss of property. As recently as 2015, compensation was paid to people for losing their slaves… Slavery is recognised as the gravest crime and you say, ‘oh, but Africans were involved’,” he fumed.

He added, “This was a whole system. They built ships, and they built the ships with measurements to make sure that the cargo could take the maximum amount of slaves. And you tell me that, you know, Africans were involved, so we shouldn't talk about reparations… some people just want to whittle down what happened.”

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President Mahama went on to describe some of the things that transpired during the slave trade, insisting that it was the “gravest crime against humanity”.

“If you know what happened to the slaves, nothing compares to it in everything that has happened in this world, to the 15 million people who were sent away, those who died. I'll give you one example: a ship captain threw 134 slaves overboard to go and claim insurance, because your ancestors were cargo, and so if the ship lost cargo, there was insurance that compensated for the loss of cargo. And 134 slaves, he threw them overboard and went and filed an insurance claim for loss of cargo,” he said.

The president touted the recognition of slavery as the gravest crime, saying that, if for nothing at all, “the souls of our ancestors would be at rest.”

He laughed at the suggestion that because Africans were involved in the slavery trade, no person should be held responsible for it, likening the trade to the genocide against Jews.

“In the record of the Holocaust, there were Jews who were prison guards, the Jews who pointed out where other Jews were hiding. And yet the Holocaust is recognised as genocide and a crime against humanity. So why not the slave trade? Because some Africans were involved. It doesn't absolve those who built the system and financed it, and so we'll call them out. I don't care what anybody says, we'll call them out,” he stressed.



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