By Princess Yanney
At a defining moment during the 39th African Union (AU) Summit in Addis Ababa, one message rang louder than the rest: Africa will be heard. Not as a fragmented chorus of individual states, but as a united continental force demanding justice for the gravest crimes in human history.
At a press conference held on the sidelines of the summit, John Dramani Mahama called on African leaders to adopt a common continental strategy on the legacy of slavery and racialised chattel enslavement, which he described as “the gravest crime against humanity.” His remarks were not merely rhetorical; they were a call to action—structured, deliberate, and grounded in legal and moral clarity.
Beyond Symbolism: A Structured Continental Strategy
According to President Mahama, Ghana’s proposed resolution—now before the African Union—has received broad support from member states. It was crafted through extensive consultations with the AU Committee of Experts on Reparations, legal scholars, academic institutions, diaspora organisations, and international partners.
He detailed the rigorous process behind the draft:
“Ghana has undertaken extensive consultations to strengthen the resolution. We’ve engaged with UNESCO, the Global Group of Experts on Reparations, the Pan-African Lawyers Union, academic institutions, the African Union Committee of Experts on Reparations and the African Union Legal Experts Reference Group. We hosted the inaugural joint meeting of the African Union Committee of Experts on Reparations and the African Union Legal Experts Reference Group in Accra earlier this month to further refine the text of the resolution. We also began engagement with the diaspora at the Ghana Diaspora Summit held in December last year.”
The deliberate wording of the resolution, he explained, reflects historical accuracy, legal credibility, and moral clarity. Informal consultations on the draft text are expected to take place between 23rd February and 12th March 2026, ahead of its formal presentation on March 25.
Reparations as Historical Correction, Not Political Gesture
Reparations, as articulated in the proposal, are not symbolic demands or abstract moral appeals. They respond to concrete historical injury.
Colonialism was not merely a period of foreign governance; it was a deeply entrenched economic system. African lands were seized. Labour was coerced. Indigenous institutions were reshaped to serve external interests. Entire economies were redesigned around the export of raw materials to enrich colonial powers. Even before colonial consolidation, the transatlantic slave trade had stripped the continent of millions of its people, destabilising societies and inflicting permanent demographic and developmental damage.
The cumulative effect was not incidental—it was structural. Colonial rule consolidated centuries of exploitation into a durable global system of inequality that continues to shape economic disparity, racial discrimination, and structural injustice today.
In this context, the reparations movement is framed not as a plea for inclusion in an unequal system, but as Africa’s assertion of its right to help redesign that system.
A Legal and Moral Foundation for Justice
President Mahama emphasised that the initiative goes beyond symbolism. It seeks to establish a legal and moral foundation for reparatory justice while facilitating structured dialogue with the United Nations and other international partners.
“Our objective is simple,” he stated. “To build a broad consensus behind this resolution. The initiative is not directed at any nation; it is directed towards truth, recognition and reconciliation.”
He reiterated that adoption of the resolution would not erase history—but it would acknowledge it. Recognition, he stressed, is not about division; it is about moral courage.
Following adoption, Ghana intends to continue engagement with the United Nations Secretary-General, the AU Commission, relevant UN bodies, and interested member states to ensure sustained dialogue on reparatory justice and healing.
Unity as Africa’s Strongest Weapon
At the heart of the call lies a powerful truth: a united Africa is a formidable global force. A divided Africa, however, remains vulnerable to imperial influence and external domination.
The importance of today’s reparations consensus lies in its rejection of a long-standing narrative—that Africa’s underdevelopment is an internal failure to be remedied through aid, policy reform, or external advice. Instead, it acknowledges that underdevelopment is the historical and continuing outcome of dispossession.
Reparations therefore respond to measurable injury, not merely to moral outrage.
“This is about a sustained dialogue on reparatory justice and healing,” President Mahama declared under the theme “Ancestral Debt, Modern Justice: Africa’s United Case for Reparations.” “This initiative presents us with a historic opportunity—an opportunity to affirm the truth of our history, to recognize the gravest injustice in human history, and to lay a stronger foundation for genuine reconciliation and equality. While the past cannot be undone, it can be acknowledged, and acknowledgement is the first step towards justice.”
March 25: A Continental Voice
On March 25, one man will formally present the resolution. Yet behind that singular voice stands millions—Africans on the continent and people of African descent across the globe.
The call from Ghana is clear: recognition must precede reconciliation, and unity must precede justice. A united Africa demanding reparations is not seeking charity; it is asserting sovereignty over its narrative and its future.
The moment, as many observers note, is no longer about hope deferred. It is about history confronted—and justice pursued.
