President Nana Akufo-Addo has expressed shock and disgust towards the killing of an unarmed black man, George Floyd, by a white police officer in the United States of America.

The President, in a Facebook post on Monday said the act brought back painful memories of how people of colour were treated some decades ago.

“It cannot be right that, in the 21st century, the United States, this great bastion of democracy, continues to grapple with the problem of systemic racism,” his post read.

President Akufo-Addo further expressed his condolences to the family and friends of Floyd.

“We stand with our kith and kin in America in these difficult and trying times, and we hope that the unfortunate, tragic death of George Floyd will inspire a lasting change in how America confronts head on the problems of hate and racism.”

On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, 43, died in Powderhorn, a neighborhood south of downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota.

While Floyd was handcuffed and lying face down on a city street during an arrest, Derek Chauvin, a white Minneapolis police officer, kept his knee on on Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, leading to his death.

According to the criminal complaint against Chauvin, 2 minutes and 53 seconds of that time occurred after Floyd became unresponsive.