Ghana News
Mahama Urges Africa to Rewrite Its Story to Fully Embrace the African Diaspora
President John Dramani Mahama on Friday, December 19, 2025, used the opening of the 2025 Diaspora Summit in Accra to challenge Ghana—and Africa at large—to fundamentally rethink how it tells its own story.
The president stated that the exclusion of the African diaspora from national history has weakened the continent’s sense of identity, unity and power.
Addressing a global audience at the Accra International Conference Centre, Mahama said Ghana’s historical narrative has too often been framed through a colonial lens, beginning with the British Gold Coast and ending at the shoreline where millions of Africans were forced into the transatlantic slave trade.
“That framing is incomplete,” he said. “The story of Ghana does not stop at the coast, just as it did not begin with colonial rule.”
Reframing History Beyond the ‘Door of No Return’
Mahama described Ghana as a central artery of the transatlantic slave trade, noting that more than 70 forts and castles—more than in any other African country—were used to hold and export enslaved Africans from across the sub-region.
He argued that what happened to Africans after they were shipped across the Atlantic must be reclaimed as part of Ghana’s own history.
“Their descendants are not foreigners to this story,” he said, welcoming members of the diaspora as returning family rather than visitors. “This is your home.”
The president drew attention to the Middle Passage as both a historical and psychological rupture, where millions perished and entire cultures were violently displaced. Yet, he stressed, African identity survived and adapted, carried in language, food, music and belief systems across the Americas and the Caribbean.
Division as a Tool of Control
A central theme of Mahama’s address was the idea that Africa and its diaspora were deliberately fragmented—first through slavery and colonial borders, and later through stereotypes, racism and internalized hierarchies such as colorism.
He criticised the lingering effects of colonial thinking in education, governance and global perceptions of Black people, noting that negative associations with “blackness” are embedded even in European languages.
“These narratives were not accidental,” Mahama said. “They were designed to strip us of dignity and convince us that division is natural.”
He called on Africans and people of African descent to consciously reverse that legacy by prioritising unity over inherited divisions.
Culture as Evidence of Continuity
Mahama pointed to enduring cultural links between Ghana and the diaspora as proof that Africa was never erased from its people. From Ananse folktales and call-and-response songs to shared dishes made with okra and cowpeas, he said African traditions crossed the Atlantic alongside enslaved people and continue to shape global culture.
“These are living archives,” he said. “They tell us that separation did not mean disappearance.”
Reparations as Justice, Not Charity
Moving beyond symbolism, Mahama made a strong case for reparative justice, announcing Ghana’s intention to push for international recognition of the transatlantic slave trade as a crime against humanity at the United Nations.
He outlined reparations as a comprehensive process—not limited to financial compensation, but including debt relief, the return of looted artefacts, institutional reform and economic restructuring that addresses centuries of extraction and exclusion.
“We are not asking for sympathy,” he said. “We are demanding justice.”
Mahama also referenced research on intergenerational trauma, arguing that the psychological and health impacts of slavery and colonialism continue to shape African and diaspora communities today.
A Pan-African Vision Renewed
Situating his remarks within Ghana’s Pan-African tradition, Mahama invoked Dr Kwame Nkrumah’s insistence that Ghana’s independence was meaningless without the liberation of the entire continent. He said the Diaspora Summit represents a continuation of that unfinished project.
In closing, Mahama struck a note of urgency and optimism, declaring that global demographics, culture and innovation point unmistakably toward Africa and its diaspora.
“The future is not something we are waiting for,” he said. “The future is African—and it is already here.”
With those words, he formally opened the Diaspora Summit 2025, setting the tone for conversations on unity, memory, justice and shared destiny.
Ghana News
Russian Embassy Criticized for “Empty” Statement on Viral Exploitation Videos involving Citizen
The Embassy of the Russian Federation in Ghana has issued a brief statement in the wake of widespread public anger and social media uproar over allegations that Russian nationals are luring young Ghanaian women into filmed sexual encounters for online distribution without consent.
The release posted on X on February 16, 2026, fails to condemn the alleged exploitation, non-consensual recording, and distribution of intimate material by its nationals.
“The Embassy of the Russian Federation in the Republic of Ghana has taken note of the reports in the Ghanaian media on the alleged involvement of a supposedly Russian citizen engaged in sexual activities with some Ghanaian women and recorded those acts without consent,” the post read.
The response comes after days of viral outrage on X, TikTok, Instagram, and WhatsApp groups, where screenshots, testimonies, and alleged links to explicit content prompted hashtags such as #ProtectGhanaianWomen and #StopTheRussianScheme.
MP Sam George, chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Gender, Children and Social Protection, has announced Ghana’s intent to pursue extradition if the primary suspect.
Responses on X
Responses to the post have been stronly worded. One person posted:
“Never trust those Russian scum. They throw African men into their war as cannon fodder & treat African women like disposable sex toys. Pure racist evil. Predators, not partners. WAKE UP AFRICA.”
Another asked:
“Any action taken?”
Another asked:
“So after taking the note, what next?”
Ghanaian authorities have disclosed they will pursue extradition proceedings against the man, said to have left Ghana.
The decision was announced by Member of Parliament Sam George on February 13, 2026, following weeks of public outrage over the alleged scheme.
According to Sam George — who chairs the Parliamentary Committee on Gender, Children and Social Protection — the suspect is believed to be a Russian national who used dating apps and social media to target young Ghanaian women, particularly students and professionals in Accra and other urban centres.
Victims were reportedly lured with promises of money, gifts or relationships, only to discover later that explicit videos were uploaded to adult websites and shared in private groups, often leading to blackmail, humiliation and threats.
A now-viral video purports to show the Russian national who previously gained attention in Ghana for controversial secret videos being arrested in Tokyo.
The video captures the man often identified in online reports by the username “Yaytsesl” being handcuffed and his rights being read to him by a Japanese law enforcement officer.
Arrest captured in partially verified video
The partially blurred footage circulating online shows Japanese police officers informing the man of his rights to remain silent in English while placing him under arrest.
In the video, officers say they had reviewed his online content before taking action.
The man is heard responding that he had never been arrested before and asking what personal items he would be allowed to bring.
The authenticity of the footage has not been independently verified.
Background: online activity linked to Ghana controversy
The suspect had drawn international attention after posting videos involving escapes with women in Kenya and Ghana that sparked widespread backlash.
The content allegedly included exploitative online material tied to vulnerable individuals, which triggered outrage among social media users and prompted calls for investigation.
Ghanaian authorities later confirmed they were aware of the situation and had initiated inquiries into the man’s activities while he was in the country. Officials indicated they were cooperating with international partners as part of broader investigations.
Reports from African and Russian media described the man as a self-proclaimed “pick-up artist” and online blogger in his 30s who travelled to Ghana and other African countries, where he allegedly recorded interactions with women without their knowledge.
Media outlets in both regions also alleged that he used sunglasses equipped with a hidden camera to capture some of the encounters and later shared the footage on social media, although authorities have not officially confirmed these claims.
Cross-border legal implications
Japanese police have not publicly disclosed the exact charges, but the arrest, if confirmed, highlights how digital activity can lead to international law enforcement action. Authorities reportedly acted after reviewing evidence linked to his online conduct.
The case has also sparked debate in Ghana about online exploitation, digital regulation, and the protection of vulnerable populations in the age of social media.
In Ghana, under the Cybersecurity Act 2020, the law punishes those who share nude photos or videos online, especially of women and children, often for revenge or blackmail.
Several Ghanaian traders are feared dead after a truck carrying tomato merchants from Ghana was attacked by suspected terrorists in Titao, Burkina Faso, on Saturday, February 14, 2026.
In an official statement issued on February 14, 2026, Ghana’s Ministry of the Interior and National Security described the incident as “disturbing,” reflecting the gravity of the situation, but kept its lips tight about casualties.
The release, signed by Minister Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka (MP), stated that the vehicle transporting the traders was caught in the terrorist attack in the northern Burkinabè town of Titao, near the Ghana border.
“The Ghana Embassy in Burkina Faso is liaising with the officials of Burkina Faso to visit the attack site for details and identification of Ghanaians caught in the attack,” the statement read. “Further details would be communicated to the public.”
While no official casualty figures have been released by Ghanaian or Burkinabè authorities as of February 15, 2026, and the identities of those affected remain unconfirmed, reports on social media, where the news about the attack first broke, suggest at least seven of the traders hit have died.
The attack took place in a region of Burkina Faso that has seen frequent jihadist incursions by groups linked to al-Qaeda and Islamic State affiliates operating in the Sahel.
Cross-border trade in agricultural goods, especially tomatoes, onions, and other perishables, is a major economic lifeline for communities on both sides of the Ghana-Burkina Faso frontier. However, escalating insecurity in northern Burkina Faso has increasingly disrupted commercial movements, raised insurance costs, and threatened livelihoods.
The Ministry’s prompt public communication reflects growing concern over the safety of Ghanaian nationals operating in volatile border areas. Ghanaian consular officials are expected to provide further updates as more information emerges from the joint site visit.
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