Mahama’s UN address to mark 25th by a Ghanaian president

President John Dramani Mahama is scheduled to address the 81st United Nations General Assembly on Thursday, September 24, 2026, in what the Ministry of Foreign Affairs says will be the 25th General Debate address delivered by a Ghanaian president.

The Ministry, in a social media post tracing Ghana’s presidential participation in the General Debate, said the country’s first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, delivered Ghana’s maiden address on September 23, 1960.

President Mahama’s scheduled appearance will therefore come 66 years after Ghana’s first presidential address at the UN General Debate.

According to the Ministry’s record, Ghanaian presidents had delivered 24 addresses at the General Debate up to the 80th session in 2025.

Former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo recorded the highest number of appearances in the Ministry’s list, with eight addresses between 2017 and 2024.

Former President John Agyekum Kufuor and President Mahama are each listed as having delivered six addresses, while former President John Evans Atta Mills addressed the General Debate twice.

Dr Kwame Nkrumah and former President Jerry John Rawlings are each listed with one address.

President Mahama previously addressed the UN General Debate in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 during his first presidency, before returning to the UN podium in 2025.

His planned address on Thursday will therefore be his seventh General Debate appearance, according to the Ministry’s record.

The Ministry noted that 38 years elapsed between Dr Nkrumah’s address in 1960 and President Rawlings’ appearance at the General Debate on September 22, 1998.

It, however, stressed that Ghana was represented at the United Nations during the intervening period, including through Foreign Ministers such as Ako Adjei and Kojo Botsio, as well as other senior government officials.

President Mahama’s participation in the 81st General Assembly comes as Ghana pursues several diplomatic priorities in New York, including reparatory justice, Africa’s development priorities, global health financing and the Accra Reset initiative.

The Ministry has indicated that Ghana is also leading a number of engagements on reparatory justice during the current UNGA session. These include discussions on the restitution of cultural property and heritage following the adoption of UN Resolution A/RES/80/250 in March 2026.

The President is also scheduled to participate in other high-level engagements on the margins of the General Assembly as Ghana seeks to advance its diplomatic and development priorities.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has described the UN General Assembly as an important platform for Ghana to engage world leaders and international institutions on issues of national, continental and global significance.

The Ministry’s post contains a numerical inconsistency regarding the number of Ghanaian presidents who have addressed the General Debate.

While it states that seven Ghanaian presidents have addressed the General Debate, the six presidents named in the same post — Kwame Nkrumah, Jerry John Rawlings, John Agyekum Kufuor, John Evans Atta Mills, John Dramani Mahama and Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo — account for the 24 appearances listed by the Ministry up to 2025.

The Ministry’s stated figure of 25 addresses therefore depends on President Mahama’s scheduled 2026 appearance being added to the 24 previous addresses.

President Mahama’s September 24 address is expected to add another chapter to Ghana’s presidential representation at the United Nations General Debate, more than six decades after Dr Nkrumah first represented the country on the platform.