THE AFRICAN PEOPLE HAVE WAITED LONG ENOUGH

Ghana’s president, Nana Akufo-Addo, said at a four-day Reparations and Racial Healing Summit in Accra on Monday that reparations for the heinous Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade that saw Africans and people of African descent ripped from their homes and shipped off to work as slaves in the Americas and other parts of the world are long overdue.  He further emphasized that it is now time for the African continent to revive and intensify the discussions about reparations for Africa.

For centuries, the slave trade had a devastating effect on Africa. It not only tore families apart but also robbed the continent of its human resources. Countless Africans were forced into a life of slavery, working in brutal conditions with no hope of ever escaping. The slave trade also had a negative impact on Africa’s economy, as it prevented the development of local industries. In recent years, however, there has been a growing movement to seek reparations for the slave trade.

After the British ended the slave trade, all owners of enslaved Africans received reparations of twenty million pounds sterling, the equivalent of twenty billion pounds sterling today, but slaves themselves did not receive a penny. Likewise, owners of slaves in the United States received three hundred dollars for every slave they owned but the slaves themselves did not get a dime. Victims of World War II who were incarcerated in camps in America received reparations. When it comes to the reparation for the African continent for such inhumane that were carried out, the reparations become an unending debate.

The issue of reparations has been a hot topic for many years, with some people arguing that African countries and people of African descent who were affected by the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade should be compensated for the damage that was done. Unfortunately, discrimination against Africans and people of African descent is still a very real problem today. A recent study found that black Americans are more likely to be stopped and searched by police, even though they are no more likely to be carrying drugs or weapons than white Americans. This just goes to show that the effects of slavery are still being felt by many people today.

For centuries, Africans and people of African descent have been subjected to systematic oppression. The heinous Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade forcibly displaced millions of Africans from their homeland and brought them to the Americas to be sold into slavery. The slave trade had a devastating impact on African societies, and its legacy can still be felt today. Slave owners were been compensated while those who suffered are left out. 

President Akufo-Addo of Ghana is one of the many leaders who believe that reparations for the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade are long overdue. The international community should take action on this issue. It is time for the world to right this historic wrong and provide justice for the descendants of those who were affected (Africans) by the slave trade. The African people have waited long enough. To add insult to injury, many Western nations still refuse to accept responsibility for their part in the slave trade.

But at least one country is finally stepping up and making amends. President Akufo-Addo deserves our full support as he fights for what his people deserve: compensation and justice. It is time for those who benefited from the slave trade to pay their debts.