President John Dramani Mahama has called on Ghanaians at home and abroad to take ownership of their history and identity, describing it as vital to shaping the nation’s future and contributing to global progress.
Speaking at the Diaspora Summit 2025 in Accra on Friday, December 19, Mahama said the gathering marked the start of a deliberate effort to restore Ghana’s voice in telling its own story. The event was held under the theme “Resetting Ghana: The Diaspora as the 17th Region.”
“By finding and owning the stories of our past, the ones that have been suppressed, we are able to truly know ourselves,” he told delegates. “With that knowledge of self comes the power to write ourselves truthfully and respectfully into not only our future, but the future of all humanity.”
The President stressed that the summit was more than symbolic, framing it as the beginning of a broader movement to reclaim Ghana’s historical, cultural and intellectual heritage.
“That is why we are gathered here today at this diaspora summit, to begin the process of reclamation in earnest, to begin the process of writing our own story and moving full steam ahead,” he said. “We are reclaiming everything that was ours.”
The summit brought together policymakers, traditional leaders, academics, entrepreneurs and members of the diaspora from across the world to discuss strategies for deeper engagement and national renewal.
