'Who should compensate whom?' - Afenyo Markin on reparatory justice

The Minority Leader in Parliament, Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin, has argued that the historical accounts of transatlantic slave trade fail to reflect the role played by local actors.

Speaking on the Floor of Parliament on Friday, March 27, 2026, he said some indigeneous people subjected their people to inhumane treatment.

“When somebody berths a vessel at Cape Coast, and you decide to go to the North, Bono area, get to the Ashanti area, to the Assin area and you are chasing your strongest among your own people, then after 100 years, you say I should be compensated. Who should compensate whom? We maltreated our own and told the white man that he should also maltreat our own. The story must be told and must be put in its proper context.

President Mahama signals next move after UN reparatory justice victory

“It is also a fact that the inhumane treatment, the unfortunate humiliation, the maginalisation, injustice and abuse of our ancestors who became victims of this slave trade must be condemned,” he said.

The UN General Assembly has adopted a resolution recognizing the trafficking of enslaved Africans as the "gravest crime against humanity." 123 countries voted in favour of the resolution, which was championed by President John Dramani Mahama and backed by the African Union and Caribbean nations.

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