Full Statement of the President of Ghana, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama to the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly. New York | 24 September 2026.
Mr. President,
Mr. Secretary-General,
Excellencies,
Distinguished Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I congratulate you, Mr President, on your election to preside over the Eighty-First
Session of the United Nations General Assembly.
You assume this solemn stewardship at a time of intense geopolitical
fragmentation, deepening inequality, and eroded trust in our multilateral system.
Ghana is confident that your proven commitment to inclusive, consultative, and
principled dialogue will guide this Assembly well. You have our full support.
I also commend outgoing UN Secretary-General António Guterres for his
dedicated service to our world body over the last 10 years.
Mr. President,
Ghana’s national anthem contains a profound petition. It asks God to make
us "bold to defend forever the cause of freedom and of right."
Those words give my compatriots and I the courage to uphold the Pan-African and
anti-colonial heritage bequeathed to us by our forebears. Another line petitions
God to fill our hearts with true humility and make us cherish fearless honesty.
That prayer inspires me today to follow in the footsteps of Kwame Nkrumah, Haile
Selassie, Nelson Mandela, and the global icons who have stood at this podium
before me and spoken boldly and fearlessly about the state of affairs in our world.
The world may not transform overnight because of the speeches delivered in this
August Assembly. But history faithfully records the truth we choose to speak, and
the silence we choose to keep, when we are granted the privilege of addressing
this global town hall.
Allow me, therefore, to begin by reintroducing myself to the General Assembly.
I stand before you as President of the Republic of Ghana. Yet, we too often ascend
these heights draped only in the robes of our titles, forgetting that alongside each
of us stands a history, a people, and a legacy.
I was born in Damongo, then a modest town in northern Ghana and now the
capital of the Savannah Region. I was born to Mr Emmanuel Adama Mahama of
Bole and Madam Abiba Nnaba Suluwu of Busunu, both of blessed memory.
I belong to them.
I belong to the foremothers and forefathers who birthed them, who named them,
nurtured them, and passed down the enduring values by which I live.
I grew up at the crossroads of several Ghanaian cultures.
I speak Gonja, a Guan language.
I speak Akan and Ga.
I am fluent in Hausa, spoken across the West African savannah and Sahel.
I understand some Ewe.
And I speak English.
In a very real sense, I belong to all these peoples because their tongues have
become my tongue. Language creates kinship, regardless of the historical
complexities through which the kinship was forged.
Mr. President,
Every person in this Chamber, and every global citizen listening to these words,
possesses an origin. We carry inherited memories, values, rich cultures, and
distinct identities.
Belonging anchors us; it reminds us that we are part of a human story far larger
than ourselves. It is a vital wellspring of dignity and pride. But belonging also has
a dark side. When weaponised by political expediency, it transforms into nativism,
chauvinism, xenophobia and the dangerous prejudices extended to those who
are deemed different.
It becomes the pretext for discrimination, displacement, persecution, and war. Yet
for this Organisation, the United Nations, the founding principle remains
immutable: Every human being belongs to the human family.
No race is superior.
No nation is inferior.
No child’s life is worth less because of the language they speak, the faith they profess,
the colour of their skin, or the land of their birth.
This is the unyielding moral foundation upon which the United Nations must
stand. I will return to this issue of belonging at the end of my speech.
Mr. President,
Last year, from this podium, I made a solemn pledge on behalf of Ghana, Africa,
and the global African diaspora to secure full international recognition of the
transatlantic trafficking and racialised chattel enslavement of Africans as the
gravest crime against humanity in human history.
Some cautioned that we were reopening old wounds. But we came not to provoke
division or render empty judgment. We came to seek healing. True healing
requires truth; truth requires acknowledgement; and acknowledgement must
lead to meaningful repair.
For centuries, this tragedy was rendered in the passive voice as though millions
of African men, women, and children vanished into the shadows of time. They did
not vanish. They were hunted, captured, trafficked, bought, sold, exploited, and
exchanged for profit. They were ripped from the families and communities they
belonged to.
Their unpaid labour built the cities, industries, banking institutions, and empires
of the modern Western world. Meanwhile, the African continent was left
depopulated, with split families, structural disruption, and generational trauma.
On 25 March 2026, the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of
Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, Ghana had the honour of
tabling Resolution A/RES/80/250 in this very August Assembly.
One hundred and twenty-three (123) nations voted to affirm this fundamental
truth: the transatlantic slave trade and chattel enslavement were the gravest
crimes against humanity.
We thank every nation that voted for justice, and I am deeply grateful to our
brothers and sisters in the African Union, CARICOM, CELAC, and our partners
across the Global South.
That resolution was not a mere gesture. It was adopted because the structural
legacies of those historic crimes continue to fuel systemic racism, economic
marginalisation, and a global financial architecture weighted against Africa and
people of African descent.
Since the passage of the historic resolution, we welcome the positive overtures
from many countries and institutions to join the dialogue on reparatory justice
and restitution. The Netherlands, Germany and France have made positive moves
to join the conversation on reparatory justice.
But real repair demands structural transformation. It requires dismantling the
persistent engines of exploitation: unfair global trade regimes, predatory
resource extraction, discriminatory credit ratings, unsustainable debt burdens,
and the continued export of raw materials from Africa while real value addition
and job creation occur elsewhere.
Mr. President,
The injustices of the past remain embedded in today's power structures. Africa is
home to 1.5 billion people, over 18 per cent of humanity, and constitutes the
largest regional voting bloc in this General Assembly. Yet, Africa remains without
a single permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council. This is
fundamentally unacceptable in the 21st century.
Africa must be granted permanent representation on the UN Security Council,
complete with all the rights, responsibilities, and veto powers of such
membership. We cannot credibly champion the sovereign equality of nations
while preserving a global governance structure designed for the post-war
geopolitical realities.
Security Council reform is not a favour to Africa; it is an imperative for the
legitimacy, credibility, and survival of the United Nations.
The same systemic inequality permeates the international financial architecture.
Developing nations borrow at interest rates up to eight times higher than
industrialised nations.
African and Caribbean nations struck by climate disasters are forced to take on
crippling debt to rebuild from floods and droughts they did not cause.
Governments are forced into a tragic choice: to service predatory debt or serve
their people.
We demand reform.
We need long-term, affordable, and accessible concessionary financing that
enables developing economies to invest in human capital, industrialisation, and
climate adaptation.
Africa does not seek charity. Africa seeks equal partnership anchored in mutual
respect. Our continent possesses the world’s youngest population, vast arable
land, unparalleled cultural vitality, and the critical minerals required to drive the
global green energy transition.
But Africa will not remain a passive arena for a new scramble for resources.
Critical mineral extraction must not replicate colonial-era exploitation. We will
process our minerals at home, build local industries, create dignified jobs for our
youth, and retain the value of our natural resources.
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), whose Secretariat Ghana is
proud to host in Accra, is our engine for intra-African trade, structural
transformation, and industrial growth.
Mr. President,
As we heal historical wounds, we must address the alarming breakdown of global
order today. We are witnessing a dangerous drift toward unilateralism,
lawlessness, and the erosion of multilateral norms.
The United Nations must learn from the lessons of the League of Nations. The UN
Charter must reign supreme over the cynical doctrine that "might makes right."
The veto power must never serve as a license for impunity. Sovereign equality
cannot be a privilege reserved only for nations aligned with global superpowers.
Nowhere is this crisis of credibility more painful than in the ongoing persecution
of the Palestinian people in Gaza, the West Bank, and the occupied territories.
We must stop using diplomatic euphemisms to veil the human carnage taking
place in Gaza. How many more innocent lives must be lost before the world acts
with decisive moral authority? The blood of five-year-old Hind Rajab, and the more
than 20,000 children killed in this brutal conflict, cries out to the conscience of the
world.
Collective punishment, enforced starvation, and mass displacement are flagrant
violations of international law. Ghana remains unwavering in its recognition of the
sovereign State of Palestine and its steadfast support for a viable Two-State
solution, where Israel and Palestine live side-by-side in peace, security, and
guaranteed borders.
At the same time, we condemn all acts of terrorism by Hamas that triggered this
conflict. We insist that all parties unconditionally respect international
humanitarian law. Our moral standards cannot be selective.
In that same spirit of international legality and human solidarity, Ghana reiterates
its call for the immediate lifting of the decades-long economic, commercial, and
financial embargo imposed on Cuba. The world must support Cuba’s new
Economic and Social Programme.
Measures that inflict collective economic hardship on ordinary citizens run
counter to our shared commitment to human dignity and international law.
We must likewise elevate our global response to the catastrophic conflict
in Sudan, which is reported to be the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. We must
also exercise solidarity with nations facing the terrorist scourge, especially the
Alliance of Sahel States.
The current Middle East crisis is having a deleterious effect on the world economy.
We call for a return to the negotiating table.
And let me add that no human civilisation deserves to be annihilated, certainly
not a member state of the United Nations. I believe that dialogue can resolve even
the most intractable of problems. Across every conflict, whether in Europe, the
Middle East, or Africa, the standard must remain uniform: respect sovereign
integrity, protect civilians, ensure unhindered humanitarian access, and hold
perpetrators of war crimes accountable.
Mr. President,
For those who have declared climate change a hoax perpetrated by geopolitical
opponents, the warnings of recent times cannot have been clearer. Melting
glaciers, flash flooding, droughts, record-breaking heatwaves, brush fires,
hurricanes and other extreme weather phenomena are unmistakable signals of
an overburdened planet.
Climate change is the ultimate test of global equity. Africa contributes less than 4
per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, yet bears some of the heaviest
burden of climate devastation. We face erratic rainfall, our coastal towns suffer
relentless erosion, and our Sahelian regions face accelerating desertification.
On 29 June this year, Ghana and coastal West Africa faced an unprecedented
deluge. Torrential rain, exceeding 160 millimetres, was dumped on seven coastal
regions within 24 hours, resulting in 39 deaths and one still missing.
Climate justice demands that developed nations fulfil their long-overdue financial
commitments. Mitigation support must be operationalised with predictable, non
debt-creating grants, not loans that further indebt fragile economies.
Similarly, global health security demands true solidarity. Pathogens do not respect
national borders or GDP. We must build an equitable global health architecture
that guarantees regional manufacturing of vaccines and therapeutics,
strengthens epidemic surveillance, and funds resilient public health infrastructure
across the Global South in accordance with the demands of the Accra Reset.
Mr President, Excellencies,
I agree that even as we demand a place at the table and call for a more equitable
and just global order, as African leaders, we must also do what is required to put
our own houses in order.
As the legal maxim goes: “Whoever comes into equity must come with clean hands.”
African leadership must be transparent and accountable. We must fight
corruption and ensure that every dollar of our people’s money counts and is used
efficiently in their interest.
Ghana is arguably the most stable democracy in Africa. We believe in the rule of
law and have respect for human rights. We are determined to demonstrate that
democracy works. While progress in a democracy may be slow because it must
follow constitutional processes, it is more sustainable because it is built through
popular participation and consensus-building.
As Ghana addresses these global imperatives, we are leading by example at home
through our transformative "Resetting Ghana Agenda." Less than two years into
my administration, through disciplined governance, fiscal prudence, and an
uncompromising fight against corruption, Ghana has achieved a dramatic
economic turnaround. Indeed, some circles describe it as the “Ghanaian miracle.”
Our macroeconomic stabilisation measures have restored growth, drastically
reduced inflation, stabilised our national currency, and significantly lowered our
public debt burden. This remarkable economic recovery story has been
independently validated by multilateral financial institutions and major
international credit rating agencies—all of which affirm that Ghana has moved
from economic vulnerability to sustained recovery, resilience, and growth.
But macroeconomic indicators mean little if they do not translate into real
improvements in our people's daily lives. Economic growth must have a human
face. That is why we are pursuing an aggressive national infrastructure agenda
under our Big Push Programme to build roads, expand digital connectivity, and
construct schools and health facilities.
This strategic investment is opening up the length and breadth of our country,
bridging the rural-urban divide, unlocking agricultural potential, and guaranteeing
equitable access to basic services for every Ghanaian, no matter where they live.
Through our flagship 24-Hour Economy and Accelerated Export Development
Programme, and the soon-to-be-launched ‘New Ghana, New Economy’ policy, we
are transforming Ghana into an industrial, high-productivity hub.
We are incentivising round-the-clock commercial operations, driving value
addition in agriculture and mining, and creating sustainable, dignified jobs for our
vibrant youth and women.
Central to our national reset is a revolutionary expansion of social protection and
universal healthcare, delivering on the Sustainable Development Goals,
specifically SDG 1 (No Poverty), SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-Being), and SDG 10
(Reduced Inequalities).
Ghana has officially launched a historic Free Primary Health Care Programme,
ensuring that every Ghanaian can access essential primary healthcare services at
the community level at zero cost. Hailed by the World Health Organisation
(WHO) and the United Nations as a benchmark paradigm shift for the Global
South, this model is currently being studied by other nations seeking to achieve
true Universal Health Coverage.
Alongside our National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), we have introduced a
specialised fund officially named the Ghana Medical Trust Fund (and popularly
referred to as MahamaCare) that guarantees Ghanaians suffering from Non
Communicable Diseases (NCDs) such as renal failure, cancer, cardiovascular
diseases, and diabetes receive subsidised, affordable, and life-saving care.
I have always believed that democracy must deliver tangible social benefits.
Citizens must experience democracy not only through the ballot box every four
years, but through improved access to food, quality education, decent housing,
accessible healthcare, and economic opportunity. Democracy loses its soul when
it protects elite privileges while abandoning the vulnerable.
Ghana remains an uncompromising beacon of constitutional democracy, media
freedom, the rule of law, and peaceful transitions of power on the African
continent.
These domestic achievements set the stage for two historic milestones ahead.
In March 2027, Ghana will celebrate its 70th Anniversary of Independence as the
first nation in sub-Saharan Africa to break the shackles of colonial rule. And
in January 2027, Ghana will proudly assume the Chairmanship of the African
Union.
We will use our AU Chairmanship to champion continental integration, accelerate
the implementation of the AfCFTA, push for peace and security in conflict zones,
and ensure that Africa speaks on the global stage with one resolute, undivided,
and confident voice.
Mr. President,
The daunting crises confronting our world are not insurmountable. What we lack
is not resources or intellect; we lack the political courage to see one another as
part of a single human family.
We must see each other not as strategic rivals, economic targets, or demographic
threats, but as human beings who belong.
The refugee fleeing violence belongs.
The migrant seeking opportunity belongs.
The child in Gaza, Sudan, or Ukraine belongs.
The descendants of enslaved Africans seeking justice belongs.
The indigenous community protecting its ancestral environment belongs.
The small island state threatened by rising oceans belongs.
The poor, the vulnerable, and the marginalised belongs.
They belong to our common human family. And because they belong, we must
safeguard their dignity, enforce their rights, and hear their voices.
When Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah stood on the eve of Ghana’s independence
in 1957, he declared that "the independence of Ghana is meaningless unless it is
linked up with the total liberation of the African continent."
Today, from this respected global podium, we must expand that historic truth:
The freedom of any nation is insecure unless it is linked to the freedom of all
humanity. Our national prosperity is fragile unless it is shared.
Our global peace is unviable unless it is anchored in justice. Let this General
Assembly recommit itself to a world where belonging is used not to erect walls,
but to build bridges; not to exclude, but to unite; not to degrade humanity, but to
exalt it.
Let us speak truth with humility.
Let us act with courage.
And let us cherish fearless honesty in the statements we deliver today, and in the
choices we make tomorrow.
May God bless our shared world.
May God bless my homeland, Ghana.
And may God bless the United Nations.
I thank you
UNGA_81
