President John Dramani Mahama has welcomed UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s openness to a formal apology and structured dialogue over Britain’s role in the transatlantic slave trade, describing the development as “refreshing”.
In a statement issued by Government Communications Minister Felix Kwakye Ofosu, Mahama said Burnham’s position marked a departure from past denial and opened the door to genuine discussions on reparatory justice. He particularly welcomed the development given the United Kingdom’s abstention from the United Nations General Assembly vote declaring the transatlantic slave trade and racialised chattel enslavement of Africans the gravest crime against humanity.
Mahama described Burnham and UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband’s openness to an apology as an acknowledgement that confronting historical injustices was not a sign of weakness but an opportunity to pursue genuine healing and repair.
The President’s comments follow Burnham’s article in The Guardian, in which the British Prime Minister called for the UK to confront its complicated history while rejecting financial reparations as the appropriate response.
Burnham proposed structured dialogue with countries and communities affected by the transatlantic slave trade, saying he was open to listening to calls for a formal apology on behalf of the British state.
“So we are offering a structured dialogue with those affected by the transatlantic slave trade. Listening to calls for a formal apology on behalf of the British state will form an important part of this process, and I am open to them,” he stated.
However, Burnham’s position has drawn opposition from Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, who has urged Britain not to entertain demands for an apology or financial reparations, arguing that the country has already acknowledged its role in slavery.
Badenoch said former Prime Minister Tony Blair had apologised twice for Britain’s involvement in slavery and described the reparations debate as destructive. She also questioned the effectiveness of previous debt-relief campaigns, including Jubilee 2000, Drop the Debt and Make Poverty History, arguing that debt cancellation exceeding US$100 billion had not secured economic sovereignty for the countries concerned.
“It is because many of these countries are struggling with the same issues we are struggling with. They are not becoming rich, they don’t know what to do, so they want to ask Britain for more money. My answer is NO. We should not even be entertaining the idea of reparations, economic redress,” she stated.
While Badenoch remains concerned about African and Caribbean countries seeking financial compensation, Mahama has reiterated that reparatory justice should extend beyond a lump-sum payment to address the enduring consequences of slavery and colonialism.
The President has outlined five key areas for a reparatory justice framework: a formal apology; a coordinated international commitment to dismantle systemic racism and Afrophobia; targeted investments in education, science, youth empowerment, climate resilience and healthcare; restitution of stolen cultural heritage; and strategic development partnerships to address structural poverty and inequities in the global economic and debt architecture, as highlighted by the Accra Reset and the Bridgetown Initiative.
The debate is expected to feature prominently at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Antigua and Barbuda, where King Charles III is also expected to address Commonwealth leaders.
With African and Caribbean countries pressing for recognition and meaningful redress, the meeting presents an opportunity to move the conversation beyond historical acknowledgement towards concrete commitments. Whether the UK’s offer of dialogue will translate into substantive progress on reparatory justice remains to be seen.
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