President Mahama carries child and reassures him as a proud African, not a slave
President John Dramani Mahama shared an emotional moment with a child actor at the Christianborg Castle on June 19, 2026, after a moving drama reenactment depicting the horrors of the transatlantic slave trade.
The event formed part of activities connected to ongoing discussions on reparatory justice and the historical legacy of slavery.
The performance portrayed the brutal experiences endured by enslaved Africans who were captured, chained and transported across the Atlantic to Europe and the Americas.
In a video shared by 1957News, President Mahama was visibly touched by the performance, particularly by a child actor who portrayed an enslaved African.
After the reenactment ended, the President carried the child in his arms and offered words of reassurance, saying, “You are not a slave okay, you are a proud African.”
Following the performance, President Mahama engaged a tour guide in a discussion about the realities of the slave trade. He specifically asked whether children as young as the child actor, who appeared to be under two years old, were also taken away during the period of enslavement.
The guide responded that infants and very young children were indeed among those captured and transported.
The tour guide further added that pregnant women were also forcibly taken and shipped across the Atlantic.
President Mahama appeared visibly surprised by the revelation, reflecting the scale of the human tragedy that affected entire families and generations.
The President has consistently advocated for recognition of the injustices committed during the transatlantic slave trade and has been vocal in calls for reparatory justice.
Speaking in March 2026 at a High-Level Special Event on Reparatory Justice, President Mahama rejected arguments that slavery should be assessed according to the social standards of the era in which it occurred. He described such claims as “loud and wrong.”
According to him, the forced transportation of Africans from their homeland to serve as slaves in foreign lands constituted a grave crime against humanity that must be acknowledged and addressed.
He further stressed that the transatlantic slave trade was deliberately structured to strip Africans of their dignity and human worth, stating that, “The entire transatlantic slave trade was designed to deny African people their humanity.”
LIVE | You are not a slave, okay! You are a proud African.— President Mahama comforts a child actor who portrayed an enslaved African during a drama reenacting the transatlantic slave trade as part of the Juneteenth commemoration at Christianborg Castle pic.twitter.com/nDtcoEB8kn
— The1957News (@The1957News) June 19, 2026
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