Ablakwa rebukes Badenoch, calls for fact-based reparations debate

Ablakwa rebukes Badenoch, calls for fact-based reparations debate

April 1,2026

Ghana’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has taken issue with remarks by UK Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch on reparations, insisting that discussions on the subject must reflect historical realities.

Addressing journalists in Accra, Ablakwa described Badenoch’s position that the United Kingdom should have resisted Ghana’s push for reparatory justice as inconsistent with established historical facts.

He highlighted that after the abolition of slavery, compensation was granted to slave owners rather than the enslaved, with British taxpayers financing the payments. He noted that the original £20 million compensation has grown to over £2 billion in today’s value.

The minister questioned why concerns about taxpayer costs are now being raised regarding reparations, when no such objections were made in compensating slave owners.

Ablakwa argued that the failure to compensate victims and their descendants remains a significant historical injustice and urged that current debates be guided by truth, fairness, and an honest acknowledgment of slavery’s enduring impact.