Sabukie Osabutey

For my English-speaking friends, if you’re unfamiliar with griots in Mali, let me explain the power of this tradition. A griot can call your name, trace your family back generations, and tell you what your ancestors did—their achievements, their struggles, even their faults. They carry history in their voices. When someone starts with your great-great-grandfather and brings that story all the way down to you, it touches something deep. Before you know it, your hand is in your pocket! 😂 You give because those words have moved you. This tradition exists across parts of West Africa, but in Mali and Guinea, it holds a special place. Hearing it in a language you understand is something else.

This is why being yourself matters. Look at what Senegal has shown the world tonight. The music, the dancing, the traditional clothing, the storytelling, the creativity. Everything speaks to who we are as Africans. These may be the Youth Olympic Games, rather than the Summer Olympics or the World Cup, but the beauty of this ceremony is extraordinary. Senegal didn’t need to abandon its identity to impress the world. It celebrated that identity. Sometimes we Africans forget how much beauty, talent and creativity we already have. Congratulations, Senegal. You have made history, and you have made Africa proud. 🇸🇳🌍 #Dakar2026

Reparations are not a magical transaction through which centuries of suffering can be erased. No amount of money can resurrect the millions who perished, return the childhoods stolen by slavery, restore the generations deprived of liberty or reverse the destruction inflicted upon entire societies. Reparation does not mean restoration. History cannot be undone. Reparative justice means acknowledging historical injury, establishing responsibility, compensating identifiable harms where possible and addressing the institutions and economic disadvantages through which those injuries continue to shape the present. It can mean restitution of stolen property, educational investment, fairer trade arrangements, access to capital, technology transfer, debt remedies where justified, institutional reform and mechanisms that place resources directly in the hands of affected communities. And before someone rushes to lecture me about corrupt African governments, let me save you the trouble. I have spent enough of my life confronting African authoritarianism and neoliberalism in Africa to require no instruction about the failures of our political leadership. I am perfectly capable of condemning an African dictator, crooked leader and demanding accountability from foreign powers that are looting Africa in the same sentence. The corruption of African leaders does not erase European historical responsibility and most of these African leaders were imposed on us by their western masters through coups, wars and electoral maneuvers that left our actual leaders assassinated or exiled. I am also not stating that European exploitation excuse African corruption. These are separate questions of accountability, and intellectually serious people should be capable of confronting both. But the argument that Africa’s present condition is simply the consequence of bad African leadership is another convenient mutilation of history. What happened to African leaders who sought genuine economic sovereignty? What happened to Sylvanus Olympio? Patrice Lumumba? Thomas Sankara? I can name a dozen others. We can debate their policies, their limitations and the circumstances of their deaths. But we cannot discuss African governance as though foreign powers never interfered in African political life, supported authoritarian regimes, undermined governments or protected economic interests through coercion and wars. And we certainly cannot pretend that political independence automatically delivered economic sovereignty. Look at the global economy today. Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire produce most of the world’s cocoa beans, yet the countries where cocoa is grown receive less than 10% of the value generated by the global chocolate industry. African countries export enormous quantities of minerals and agricultural commodities while much of the higher-value processing, manufacturing and retail activity takes place elsewhere. This is not evidence that Africans are incapable of producing wealth. It is evidence that producing a resource and controlling the economic value generated from that resource are two very different things. And these arrangements must be examined through the history of colonial extraction, unequal commercial relationships, industrial policy, international finance and the decisions of African governments themselves. The discussion about reparations is therefore inseparable from the question of how wealth is produced, distributed and retained today. I am not interested in assigning hereditary guilt to ordinary Europeans. A child born in Europe today is not personally responsible for the actions of a slave trader who lived three centuries ago. Neither is a child born into an African royal family personally guilty of the crimes of an ancestor who sold captives. But personal innocence does not settle questions of institutional responsibility, inherited economic advantage or unresolved historical claims. This intellectual dishonesty has gone on long enough

🚨HIGHLIGHTS: Watch Kemi’s best bits from the Labour Budget this week!👇

We cannot reach our destination if we do not start the journey. Barbados will meet this opening for dialogue with purpose. We will carry our history to the table, speak plainly and respectfully about our differences with the United Kingdom on reparations and pursue agreements that can improve lives. Guided by CARICOM’s Ten Point Plan, we seek an apology, investment in health and education, and fairer debt terms for vulnerable states. Our children must inherit more than the consequences of the past. They must inherit the progress we have the courage to make.

This is most appreciated @NYCMayor The Government of Ghana welcomes your intervention and President Trump’s timely decision. We have always known we can count on our own Kwame Mamdani. I spoke with the mother of Javits Frimpong yesterday and assigned officials of Ghana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to assist her with the visa application process. Madam Doris Adu Gyamfi’s pain as a loving mother is unimaginable and indeed everything must be done to ensure she is present to pay her respects. The Mahama Administration will take care of the full cost of Madam Adu Gyamfi’s travels and also stands ready to contribute towards a dignifying funeral. We resolve to continue to work together in securing justice for Javits.

The murder of a child is a pain no parent should have to endure, let alone from thousands of miles away. Javits Frimpong’s mother deserves to say goodbye to her son in person. I just got off the phone with President Trump and he has agreed to grant her visa immediately.  All of New York City is mourning this tragedy.

It has been a really successful Russia-Africa Summit. In direct talks with President Vladimir Putin, President John Mahama has secured the following concrete commitments: 1) Russia has agreed to work with Ghana to establish a 2,000 megawatts nuclear power plant to guarantee energy security and anchor industrialization. This is a revival of Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah’s vision for which he commenced preparatory works but was truncated by the coup of February 28, 1966; 2) A new defence pact to acquire strategic military assets for the globally respected Ghana Armed Forces; 3) Ghana and Russia will enhance our agricultural cooperation aimed at boosting grain production and provision of fertilizers; 4) Russia will increase scholarships for Ghanaian students. Ghana now ranks second as the African nation with the most number of students; 5) Following concerns raised by President Mahama, President Putin has declared that Ghanaians are no longer allowed to participate in the war with Ukraine. This policy applies to all circumstances whether through irregular recruitments or expression of voluntary interests; 6) Ghana and Russia will revive our PJCC with Moscow ready to host in the next few weeks. Ghana and Russia have maintained cordial and mutually beneficial formal bilateral relations since 1958. For God and Country 🇬🇭 🙏🏾

After listening to the story of the seven fishermen who got lost at sea for two weeks, recount their ordeal, I don’t bargain over fish anymore 🙏

Slavery was an evil in which people from every continent and region participated. We should be honest about the whole history, not select the parts that are politically convenient today, especially given Britain's leading role in ending the transatlantic slave trade. If Caribbean countries are asking Britain for a formal apology for Britain’s role in the transatlantic slave trade, will they also be asking the same of the descendants of African kingdoms, rulers and merchants who captured, sold and profited from the trade? On demands for reparations, whether through cash or debt relief, we have been down this track before. Twenty-five years ago, Jubilee 2000, Drop the Debt and Make Poverty History argued that cancelling the debts of poorer countries would give them a fresh start. More than $100 billion of debt was eventually written off, but many of those countries have since built up even bigger debts. Labour are already spending too much on Britain's welfare state, now is not the time for Andy Burnham to be providing global welfare. There is no reason British taxpayers today should be held financially responsible for things that happened generations before any of us were born. And I have even less patience for political elites in commonwealth countries who don’t know how to make their own citizens prosperous now looking for another opportunity to blame Britain. As Prime Minister, Andy Burnham should be Britain’s greatest defender. Instead, he is writing articles saying we need to confront our history (as if we haven't done enough of that) and considering another formal historical apology. Tony Blair already expressed Britain’s deep sorrow and regret for our role in the slave trade nearly twenty years ago. There is no need to do so again. This is all another navel-gazing distraction. The Commonwealth should be looking forward, not endlessly backwards. That means economic partnerships to make us all richer and deeper military and security cooperation against common threats. If every Commonwealth summit becomes an exercise in presenting Britain with demands for cash then we need to start asking if it is worth the effort.

J’ai présidé, ce jour 30 octobre 2026, la cérémonie officielle d’ouverture de la 18e édition du Salon international de l’artisanat de Ouagadougou (SIAO). Je salue le talent et la créativité de nos artisans. Le SIAO met en lumière la richesse de nos savoir-faire et le potentiel de nos produits. Ma conviction est que l’artisanat ne doit plus être considéré uniquement comme l’héritage de notre passé. Il doit devenir l’un des fondements de notre avenir industriel. C’est ainsi que nous transformerons notre patrimoine culturel en puissance économique, sans jamais lui faire perdre son âme. Soutenons la transformation locale et le rayonnement de l’artisanat africain. La Patrie ou la Mort, nous vaincrons. #SIAO #BurkinaFaso

The 30th Assembly of the International Mobile Satellite Organization (IMSO) has successfully concluded in London. Pleased to have represented Ghana in deliberations on maritime satellite communications, GMDSS and maritime safety. A significant outcome was Ghana’s re-election to the IMSO Advisory Committee, reaffirming our commitment to shaping global maritime safety and communications governance.

Final thoughts on the just concluded Russia-Africa Summit. I won't summarize anything in the video because most people comment on the post without watching it