Africa Day 2025: Reparative justice mustn’t delay further
Yesterday was Africa Day, commemorated each year as a reminder of the continent’s shared struggles, aspirations and the unyielding spirit that gave birth to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in 1963.
The 2025 theme, “Justice for Africans and People of African Descent Through Reparations,” confronts a long-overdue issue: the moral and material debts owed to Africa and its diaspora due to slavery, colonialism and apartheid.
This year’s theme is neither abstract nor historical — it is a call that is rooted in living memory and ongoing structural injustice. Indeed, slavery did not end with emancipation.
Its legacy persists in the form of systemic inequality, underdevelopment and continued global exploitation of African resources. Colonialism may have ended officially, but its economic and political repercussions still shape the lives of millions across the continent.
Reparations, therefore, are not about handouts — they are about justice, dignity and restoration.
Ghana’s historical role in the Pan-African movement makes it a natural leader in advancing the reparations agenda.
As the first sub-Saharan African country to gain independence in 1957, Ghana under Kwame Nkrumah championed African unity and liberation from colonial rule.
In recent years, Ghana has rekindled this legacy.
The Year of Return in 2019, which marked 400 years since the first enslaved Africans were taken to the Americas, drew global attention to our country’s commitment to reconnecting with the African diaspora.
It was not merely a tourism campaign — it was a statement of historical acknowledgment and an invitation to diasporans to reclaim their heritage.
Building on that momentum, Ghana has now taken a front-row seat in the global conversation about reparative justice.
At the United Nations and other fora, our past presidents have rightly stated that the wealth of the West was built on the exploitation of Africa, and that true justice required more than apologies.
It demands tangible redress — investments in education, health, infrastructure, and the return of stolen artefacts, among others. Commendably, President John Mahama has not left the momentum to fade.
He has thrown his full weight behind the African Union's declaration of 2025 as the Year of Justice for Africans and People of African descent, urging continental unity in the pursuit of meaningful reparations.
Serving as the AU's appointed champion for the reparations cause, President Mahama yesterday delivered a video message to mark Africa Day 2025, emphasising that the time had come for concrete action to address historical wrongs.
Africa Day 2025’s focus on people of African descent globally connects the reparations movement within Africa to its diaspora in the Americas, Europe and beyond.
Whether it is police brutality in the United States or economic exclusion in Brazil, the descendants of enslaved Africans continue to bear the burden of history.
Reparations, in this sense, are also about confronting contemporary racism and ensuring structural reforms that benefit Black communities worldwide.
The Daily Graphic notes that in Ghana, discussions around reparations have already taken a multifaceted shape. Civil society organisations, historians and legal scholars are pushing for both symbolic and material restitution and we are solidly behind the growing support for legal frameworks to quantify and pursue reparations claims, whether through the African Union or international courts.
Ghana’s own museums and cultural institutions are actively campaigning for the repatriation of stolen heritage from Western museums.
However, we are of the strongest conviction that the reparations agenda must also include introspection.
As Ghana and other African nations push for justice from abroad, they must also ensure justice within. Issues such as corruption, inequality and poor governance remain barriers to meaningful development.
Reparations will be futile if internal structures continue to undermine the dignity and prosperity of the people they are meant to uplift.
Reparative justice must also involve fair distribution of wealth, accountability and inclusivity at the national level.
Africa Day 2025 presents an opportunity for the continent to realign itself with the founding ideals of the OAU: solidarity, sovereignty and self-determination.
Reparations are not just about the past — they are about the future.
They must offer a framework for reimagining development that is not dependent on aid or extractive partnerships, but rooted in fairness, memory and mutual respect.
Ghana’s unique position and leadership in this movement is vital.
It brings moral authority, historical significance, and an engaged diaspora.
May the AU Day 2025 be a turning point to countries of the continent, where justice moves from rhetoric to reality, and where Africa reclaims not just its past but its rightful future.
