THATO MASHABA
WINDHOEK, (CAJ News) – DESPITE all 27 European Union (EU) member states, particularly the United Kingdom (UK), being among the biggest beneficiaries of slavery, efforts are being made to push back against reparations and colonial accountability.
The United Nations (UN) resolution of 25 March called on countries, individually and collectively, to engage in fair, inclusive, good-faith dialogue on reparatory justice, including formal apologies, financial compensation and restitution.
Africa’s reparations agenda took centre stage under the African Union’s (AU) 2025 theme, Justice for Africans and People of African Descent Through Reparations.
By mid-2025, the AU had declared 2026 to 2035 the Decade of Reparations, charging Ghana’s President John Mahama with championing the cause.
The AU summit decision in February called for an African-based global reparations fund to support programmes for indigenous peoples’ development, education systems, restitution, cultural institutions and activities that address systemic racism.
The AU called on beneficiaries of the transatlantic slave trade and colonialism — including states, institutions and the private sector — to contribute.
However, the far-right political party Reform UK came out guns blazing and went a step further by threatening visa restrictions for residents of African countries, including Nigeria and Ghana, for asking Europe to account for years of human trafficking.
Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK, is campaigning for a policy to deny visas to citizens of any nation demanding reparations from the British state for its historical involvement in the transatlantic slave trade.
Reform UK Home Affairs spokesperson Zia Yusuf argued that demands for compensation are insulting and overlook Britain’s historic role in the abolition of slavery. He openly stated that “the bank is closed and the door is locked”.
Yusuf was even more forceful, describing compensation demands as “insulting”, adding that the UK’s “bank is closed to nations attempting to leverage history for financial gain”.
It is not only Reform UK that has a problem with reparations; the UK government has also been pushing back against financial reparations.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has ruled out both formal apologies and direct reparations.
Avoiding the issue, Starmer said he would prefer to “look forward” rather than engage in “endless discussions about reparations for the past”.
Sir Hilary Beckles, Chairman of the CARICOM Reparations Commission, condemned the pronouncement by Reform UK and described the policy as a “legacy of toxic racism”.
Beckles said the move reflected a typical colonial attitude and was a continuation of punitive measures that hark back to historical opposition to the abolition of the slave trade.
“Punishing the victims again is in fact consistent with those people at the time of emancipation who did not wish… to see the African people freed,” Beckles said.
Although Reform UK has only eight seats in the UK Parliament, it is currently leading several opinion polls ahead of the next general election, expected by 2029, signalling its growing political influence.
The reality is that the economic disparities and racial inequalities in formerly colonised nations are direct consequences of slavery and colonialism.
As a result, the demand for reparations is rooted in justice rather than opportunism.
Whilst Western powers ignore the “historical wrongs and horrors of the past”, there is growing anti-UK and anti-US sentiment across the continent over their dismissive approach, particularly on the issue of reparations.
As the Next Steps Conference reaffirms Africa’s determination to pursue reparatory justice, the debate was summarised well by Burkina Faso’s UN Permanent Representative, Saïdou Zongo, speaking on behalf of the Alliance of Sahel States (AoSS).
He linked the deliberate economic impoverishment of Africa to the economic enrichment of the UK and other Western powers.
“There is a common thread between the slavery and transatlantic trade of the past and the terrorism plaguing the Sahel today, namely the enrichment of colonial and imperial powers on one side and the impoverishment and fragmentation of Africa on the other,” said Zongo.
This week, heads of state and government, ministers, civil society representatives, historians, researchers and legal experts from more than 80 countries are converging in Ghana’s capital, Accra, for the three-day Next Steps Conference, which began on Wednesday.
Speakers included Prime Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados and Presidents John Mahama, Joseph Boakai Sr, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah and Bassirou Diomaye Faye of Ghana, Liberia, Namibia and Senegal, respectively.
Following widespread condemnation from grassroots organisations, French President Emmanuel Macron will deliver only a video address instead of participating in person.
Many have questioned Macron’s invitation to what is intended to be an exclusive dialogue for the victims of slavery and the brutality of colonialism, without the interference of former colonial powers.
- CAJ News
