ACCRA, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama on Thursday urged the international community to pay reparations to African countries for the trans-Atlantic slave trade and the colonization of the continent.

Speaking at the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, Mahama said Ghana plans to introduce a formal motion before the UN to press these demands.

"The slave trade must be recognized as the greatest crime against humanity. As the African champion on reparations, Ghana intends to introduce a motion to this august body to that effect," the president said.

He reminded the global community that more than 12.5 million Africans were forcibly taken against their wills and transported to create wealth for Western countries.

Mahama also said Western governments paid reparations to former slave owners as compensation for the loss of their "property" after the abolition of the slave trade, treating freed Africans as "property" whose loss required payment.

"We demand reparations for the enslavement of our people and the colonization of our land that resulted in the theft of natural resources, as well as the looting of artifacts and other items of cultural heritage that have yet to be returned in total," he added. ■