Ghana`s Jubelee House Official Page on 14.07.2025 stated: „Africa`s Reparations call now a unified demand- President Mahama.“ …“As we implement the 2025 Theme of the Year on Justice for Africans and People of African Descent through reparations, we reaffirm our shared resolve to correct historical wrongs and injustice through restitution, healing, and holistic systematic transformation.“
I was born into Germany in 1959. We, the German baby boomers, were not born to be Germans by our own choice but by God`s will and the initiatives of our parents. My parents were born in 1938 and 1939, not a generation to be responsible for WWII and the holocaust. In my family, we never had Nazis or Colonial Masters, simple people who went about their daily lives like Millions in Germany and other countries. They were never interested in politics. Yes, they did not stand up against Adolf Hitler, nor did many Millions of their generation. If they had stood up, the holocaust would have possibly never happened. Germany paid reparations to the four Allies — France, the USA, the UK, and Russia — for the harm caused. My country, Germany, until recently paid monthly compensation to the holocaust survivors as a gesture to accept the bitter truth of the past and to ease the pain of these traumatized survivors who had migrated to the state of Israel. Now that most of these survivors have passed, the payment has come to an end.
When I make a mistake and do something wrong, I need to be held accountable in various appropriate ways. When I or my generation during our lifetime wrong others, we must equally be held to account for not having engaged in proper actions to stop the wrong. What about issues of our nation that we are not responsible for, as not alive? Do we need to suffer for the wrongs of our parents, for Germans we never met, only read about them in history books? Are we today responsible for German wrongs only because God decided for us to be born in Germany and still hold German passports?
The new African initiative raises more questions than it provides guidance. The Nubians, who are now in Sudan, were slaves under the Egyptian Pharaohs. Does Egypt have to compensate the Sudanese people for the hardship they encountered? The Ashanti Empire oppressed many people in a foreign land. does Ghana not have to compensate them for what the Ashanti Empire had done to them, so the Mali Empire, South Africa to Namibia under Apartheid, and so many more examples? Why did Africa not ask for reparations right after their time of independence? This would have been a good time, as the responsible generations were still alive. Meanwhile, 2-3 generations of white people have already passed through African history. Why, since African Independence, did African leaders not stop the misuse of the African continent by the former Colonial masters, being independent leaders and voted into office by their people? People who voted with open eyes for corrupt leaders with sweet words in their mouths? Should I or my generation be responsible for the greedy mentality of African leaders who took our bribes even though they could have refused it, instead put us behind bars for any such attempt?
Should we, whites, be asked to pay reparations for the millions of slaves taken by the Europeans, Americans, and Arabs since 1492, when the Portuguese landed on the Gold Coast? African slaves sold by Africans to the white man? Do we get back the bribes paid? How to estimate the volume of minerals taken and which currency and value to use as a calculation basis, including inflation matters?
The critical observer gets the impression that this idea should put all the blame for the past on the white man in history and the white man of today, brushing over the many moments in history when the black man was able to take control of his own affairs in the involvement of the misery of Africa. Or do African leaders follow in the footsteps of Donald J. Trump to make a deal?
