Only a Continental Tribunal can hold colonial powers accountable to reparations — Kwesi Pratt
Veteran journalist and Pan-African advocate, Kwesi Pratt Jnr, has called for the establishment of a Continental Tribunal to pursue reparations and hold former colonial powers accountable for centuries of exploitation and violence against African peoples.
Speaking at the International Conference Commemorating the 80th Anniversary of the Fifth Pan-African Congress in Accra on Wednesday, November 19, Mr Pratt stated that the fight for reparations was essential to restoring dignity and correcting historical wrongs.
“Let us now create a Continental Tribunal and empower our people to prepare bigger claims against the colonial powers,” he told the large gathering of delegates from Africa and the diaspora.
“Reparations are not limited to what others owe us. We must reclaim the narrative, restore the dignity of African knowledge, and restore the light of humanity.”
Mr Pratt outlined in detail the historical roots of Africa’s economic and political challenges, stressing that the wealth of Europe and the modern world was built on Africa’s labour and resources. “From the 15th to the 19th century, over 12.5 million of our ancestors were captured, shackled, and shipped across the Atlantic. "Nearly two million died in the Middle Passage. The Atlantic became a cemetery without graves,” he said, adding that the profits from enslaved Africans financed major European cities and global financial institutions. “Liverpool’s docks, Bristol’s warehouses, and the Stock Exchange of London and New York were financed by the sweat and blood of African men, women, and children.”
He argued that after the abolition, justice was once again denied as compensation went to enslavers rather than the enslaved.
“Slaveholders received £25 million, and British taxpayers only completed these payments in 2015,” he stressed.
He further stated that the imposition of colonial rule, forced labour, cultural suppression and the theft of African artifacts were deliberate systems designed to maintain Europe’s dominance.
Mr Pratt said Africa’s modern economic crisis was not accidental.
He noted that structural adjustment policies and IMF-World Bank prescriptions had plunged countries deeper into poverty.
“We (Ghana) have gone to the IMF and the World Bank 18 times. Each time we emerged worse. Either these institutions are incompetent, or they were designed to keep us in crisis,” he argued, adding that African leaders must break away from this cycle. “Einstein taught us that those who do the same thing over and over expecting different results must have problems with their mental capacities," he recalled.
The two-day conference, organised by the Pan-African Progressive Front (PPF) headquartered in Accra, placed reparations at the centre of its agenda, proposing concrete steps, including the establishment of a legal institution, for accurate damage assessment, expert examinations and preparation of claims before higher courts, the creation of a Continental Reparations Fund, and the introduction of customs duties on goods from former colonial countries. Delegates agreed that such measures were necessary to correct centuries of harm.
The consensus across the conference was that, “the former colonisers must pay for their crimes.”
The formal opening ceremony on Tuesday featured speeches from former Ghana President, John Agyekum Kufuor, President Nicolás Maduro (via envoy), President Abdourahamane Tchiani of Niger (via representative),
delegations from Cuba, Algeria, Morocco, Libya, Sierra Leone, Tunisia and Western Sahara, among others.
President John Dramani Mahama of Ghana, the African Union’s Champion for Reparations, officially opened the conference, reaffirming Africa’s commitment to building a just global order.
Prior to the opening, attendees watched the premiere of the documentary “Pan-Africanism: The Fire of Freedom,” after which Ghanaian musician Amandzeba performed the Pan-African Anthem composed for the event.
In a symbolic commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the Fifth Pan-African Congress, delegates formed a giant illuminated Black Star around the Kwame Nkrumah Monument, pledging to continue the struggle for liberation and unity.
On the sidelines of the forum, the PPF Coordinating Committee met Monsieur Emile Parfait of SIMB to discuss plans for a unified Pan-African media holding.
Libya’s Foreign Minister announced that Benghazi was being considered as the host city for the next PPF conference, while President Mahama revealed ongoing discussions toward establishing a visa-free zone across seven African countries to deepen integration.
