By Francis Ntow, GNA Special Correspondent, Bangkok
Bangkok, Oct. 20, GNA – Ghana has developed a five-year action plan to advance reparations through diplomatic engagement, reparative financing and reforms to the global financial architecture.
The plan seeks to move the agenda from advocacy to implementation, aligning Ghana’s efforts with the African Union’s (AU) Decade of Reparations, as President John Dramani Mahama prepares to assume the role of AU Champion on Reparations next year.
Dr Ekow Spio-Garbrah, Ghana’s Special Envoy for Reparations, disclosed this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency on the sidelines of the recently concluded 81st International Monetary Fund (IMF)/World Bank Group annual meetings in Bangkok.
He said the draft plan had been submitted to the Presidency for consideration and would guide Ghana’s advocacy, the operationalisation of the Reparations Officer and the utilisation of reparations resources.
“My office has produced a five-year programme of action, which is yet to be presented to the appraisal approving authority. It has been presented in draft form at certain levels of government, but it has to be discussed fully,” he said.
Dr Spio-Garbrah said the plan, once adopted, would guide Ghana’s engagements with the AU, the United Nations, the IMF, the World Bank and bilateral partners in Europe and the Americas.
The AU has declared 2026 to 2035 the Decade of Reparations to sustain momentum for reparative justice and translate the campaign into practical action through diplomacy, public education, legal advocacy and the development of reparative financial instruments.
Dr Spio-Garbrah said Ghana’s plan would outline strategies to mobilise support among the AU’s 55 member states and diaspora communities, while strengthening partnerships with Caribbean countries pursuing reparations claims.
He said the decade provided an opportunity for African countries to coordinate their claims, develop legal frameworks and engage former colonial powers and multilateral institutions in structured dialogue.
Dr Spio-Garbrah said President Mahama’s appointment as AU Champion on Reparations would position Ghana to contribute to efforts to reform the global financial architecture and pursue justice for slavery and colonialism.
The reform agenda, he said, sought to make the IMF and the World Bank more responsive to Africa’s development needs, including through reparative financing.
GNA
Edited by Kenneth Sackey
Reporter: Francis Ntow