President John Dramani Mahama has said our next step is to build permanent global system for restitution. He has also called for unconditional return of all human remains, saying human remains are not collectibles.
President John Dramani Mahama called on the United Nations and holding nations to move beyond piecemeal acts of goodwill and build a permanent, institutionalised global system for the restitution of Africa's cultural heritage.
"Our next step is to build a permanent, institutionalised global system. We call on the United Nations and holding nations to establish clear, standardised legal and diplomatic mechanisms that streamline provenance research, make archives transparent, and lower legal barriers to unconditional restitution, starting immediately with the unconditional return of all human remains," President Mahama said.
The President was speaking at the Next Steps High-Level Side Event on Reparatory Justice on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York today (Wednesday, September 23, 2026).
The event was co-hosted by Ghana, Germany and France as a follow-up to the historic adoption of UN General Assembly Resolution and the High-Level Consultative Conference on Reparatory Justice held in Accra in June this year.
President Mahama stressed that the debate on restitution was not about static objects in museum cases.
"This is not a story about static objects in museum cases. It is a story about people. It is a story about dignity. It is a story about an unfinished journey toward justice," he stated.
Ghana's pain, Living heritage
Citing Ghana's experience, the President recalled the British destruction of Kumasi in 1874 and the looting of the palace of the Asantehene.
"A century and a half later, in 2024, a portion of that heritage returned, including the sacred Mpomponsuo sword. Its return reminded us that these are not mere relics of a bygone era. They belong to living traditions, active institutions, and communities that are still here," he said.
He said this story was replicated across the continent in Benin City in 1897, at Maqdala in Ethiopia, and in Abomey in Benin.
President Mahama, however said, the most heartbreaking form of dispossession was the removal of the physical remains of ancestors.
"In 1838, King Badu Bonsu II of Ahanta rebelled against Dutch colonial domination. The Dutch authorities executed him by hanging and after decapitated him. His head was sent to Netherlands for phrenology studies and was preserved in a jar of formaldehyde for 170 years. Rediscovered by a Dutch journalist in 2002, the head was finally returned to Ghana in 2009.
"And this is where I say, ladies and gentlemen, human remains are not collectibles. They are not specimens. They are our ancestors. They are our fathers, mothers, kings, and elders. Restoring them is not a matter of legal ownership; it is a fundamental test of our shared human dignity," he stressed.
No more excuses
President Mahama rejected the argument that restitution must wait until African nations build modern facilities.
"Too often, we hear the argument that restitution must wait until African nations build modern facilities to secure their heritage. Let us reject this narrative. Capacity constraints must never be used as a justification for continued possession. Capacity must serve as a bridge to return, not a barrier to justice," he stated.
He stated that Africa was already building the infrastructure of the future through the African Union's Agenda 2063 flagship project, the Great African Museum, and the AU-EU Museum Partnership, as well as Ghana's own construction of state-of-the-art national and traditional institutions to preserve, research and exhibit returning treasures.
"Where gaps in technology, digitisation, or conservation exist, the solution is simple: Invest in them through genuine multilateral partnership," he added.
The President said cultural heritage was not a luxury to be addressed after economic development, but an engine of development.
"Properly preserved and showcased, it fuels education, identity, international tourism, and the booming creative economy," he said.
He, therefore, called on multilateral development banks, international financial institutions, global foundations and private sector partners to invest deliberately in Africa's cultural infrastructure, including regional archives, conservation laboratories, digitisation initiatives and professional training for a new generation of African curators and historians.
Truth to action
President Mahama described the adoption of the UN Resolution, as an “indispensable moment of global truth”; adding that, truth is not the destination, but the starting line.
He explained that the High-Level Consultative Conference convened by Ghana in Accra in June sought to answer the question:
What comes next?
"Our answer was clear: We must move from acknowledgement to action, from commitments to implementation. The adoption of the Accra Next Steps Commitments on Reparatory Justice provided the blueprint," he said.
President Mahama acknowledged progress made by some holding nations.
"We acknowledge and salute the progress made. We thank the Netherlands for cataloguing 2,000 Ghanaian artefacts for return.
We acknowledge Germany's engagement with our Kpando traditional area, France's legislative frameworks, and the return of the Djidji Ayokwe talking drum to Côte d'Ivoire. But moral justice cannot rely on piecemeal generosity or isolated acts of goodwill," he said.
Inheriting history
President Mahama said the work was ultimately about the children who would inherit the world in Kumasi, Benin City, Addis Ababa, London, Kingston and New York.
"When a young African child enters a museum on her own continent and touches the tangible proof of her ancestors' brilliance, she learns that her history did not begin with subjugation. She learns that her ancestors built empires, mastered metallurgy, engineered complex political systems, and created sublime art. Our young people must inherit more than the story of what Africa lost. They must inherit the story of what Africa created," he said.
President Mahama said past trauma must not sentence the world to permanent estrangement.
"Ghana does not come to this hall to assign guilt for the past. We come to forge a partnership with the present to repair the future. The story of Africa's cultural heritage cannot end with its removal. It must continue with its return.
"Let this UN General Assembly be remembered not as the place where we agreed on the past, but as the moment we built the future together," the President said.
US ready to work with Ghana on reparatory justice despite voting against UN Resolution — Ablakwa
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, speaking at the Next Steps High-Level Side Event on Reparatory Justice disclosed that Ghana has received formal notice from the United States of America (USA) that it is willing to work with Ghana towards a fair and just world.
Mr Ablakwa commended the US government for this bold step even though it voted against the UN resolution declaring the transatlantic slave trade as the gravest crime against humanity,
"I must also use this opportunity to commend the United States of America. We have received formal notice from the United States of America that even though they voted against this resolution, they are willing to begin to work with us towards that fair and just world we all seek. So to the skeptics, to the naysayers, to the alarmists, this is your response," Mr Ablakwa stated.
Mr Ablakwa expressed optimism that the formal engagement from the US would encourage other holding nations to join the process, stressing that the Accra Next Steps Commitments were aimed at building, not breaking, bridges between Africa, the Caribbean, Europe and the Americas.
Mr Ablakwa, cited a new restitution law signed by US President Donald Trump for the return of Jewish cultural property as a precedent that must be extended to Africa's looted heritage.
The Minister said the principle behind the American law — that looted heritage must be returned regardless of where it is held or how long it has been kept should apply equally to African artefacts.
“If that principle can apply so beautifully to the Jews, and we commend the US for this new law signed by President Donald Trump, we are also deserving of the same principle,” he said.
Background
The law in reference is the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery (HEAR) Act of 2025 which President Trump signed on April 13, this year.
The bipartisan legislation permanently eliminates statute-of-limitations barriers that had prevented Holocaust survivors and their heirs from recovering artworks looted by the Nazis.
It allows families up to six years to pursue recovery from the time they identify the current possessor, and guarantees that cases will be heard on their merits rather than dismissed on technical grounds.
Repeal laws blocking return
Mr Ablakwa called on holding nations in Europe that still maintain legal prohibitions on deaccessioning national collections to follow the examples of France and the United States and repeal them.
"So we know there are a few countries that have promulgated laws that does not allow them to return artifacts to Africa. Please repeal those laws, just as France has repealed, and just as President Donald Trump has signed this new law for the Jews," he said.
The Minister said restitution was not an abstract debate.
"Restitution is very important in this generation. In museums in Europe and the United States of America, in private collections," he said, stressing that Africa's history, carved into sacred wood, cast in royal bronze, woven into Kente and written in manuscripts, remains locked behind glass thousands of miles from its creators.
Reconciliation
Mr Ablakwa stressed that the Ghana-led effort, was not intended to create division.
"The Ghana-led effort is not about dividing the world. It is rather about bringing us together. It is rather about healing. It is rather about genuine reconciliation. And that is what President Mahama, as Chair of the Global Advisory Panel on Reparatory Justice, and his colleagues are working towards," he said.
The Minister assured the passage of the resolution and the drive for reparatory justice was in good faith.
“There are no hidden agendas. There is no secret motive. All we seek is to build a new world, a fair and just world, a world without racism, a world without discrimination," the Foreign Affairs Minister added.
Mr Ablakwa said, while the subject of reparatory justice remained difficult and emotive, the current generation had a responsibility to forge a new path built on trust and reconciliation.
“We can work together, we can cooperate and we can show true solidarity. It is this time. Of course we know it is a very difficult subject. It is quite emotive and there are many aspects of this journey that will require some honest but tense discussions.
“But what is important is that our generation, we are willing to forge a new path. A path in reconciliation, a path in trusting each other," he said.
The Foreign Minister also lauded the Netherlands for cataloguing 2,000 Ghanaian artefacts for return, Germany's engagement with the Kpando traditional area, France's new legislative frameworks on restitution, and the recent return of the Djidji Ayokwe talking drum to Côte d'Ivoire, as examples of progress that must be institutionalised into a permanent global system.
