Makmid Kamara

Regional Director- Africa & the Middle East, IFPIM. Fmr. Director ATJLF. AFSEE Global Fellow. Obama Leader-Africa. All views mine. Retweets not endorsements.

[SIERRAEYESALONE @sierraeyesalone]

Welcoming the UN's Historic Declaration on Slavery

Yesterday, the United Nations General Assembly did something long overdue. By a vote of 123 in favour, 3 against and 52 abstentions, it adopted resolution A/80/L.48, formally declaring the trafficking of enslaved Africans and racialised chattel enslavement of Africans "the gravest crime against humanity."

For Sierra Leoneans, this is not abstract history. Bunce Island, just off our coast, was one of the most notorious slave-trading fortresses in the transatlantic system. Tens of thousands of our ancestors passed through its dungeons before being shipped across the Middle Passage. Yet Freetown, the "Province of Freedom," was founded by freed slaves and recaptives who refused to let that horror define their future.

Today's resolution feels like the global community is finally catching up with what we have always known in our bones, this was not merely a "trade." It was a systematic, state-sponsored assault on African humanity whose consequences still structure the lives and life chances of people of African descent across the world.

We owe a profound debt of gratitude to #Ghana's President @JDMahama, who led this charge on behalf of the African Group. He spoke with the moral authority of a leader who understands that reparatory justice is not charity, it is a debt long overdue. In championing this text, backed by the @_AfricanUnion and the @CARICOMorg Caribbean Community, he has turned decades of quiet advocacy into a resounding global affirmation. Ghana has once again shown the continent how to lead with dignity and purpose.

The text is far more than a symbolic gesture. It unequivocally condemns the 400-year trafficking and racialised chattel enslavement of Africans as the most inhumane and enduring injustice in recorded history. It recognises the crime as a violation of jus cogens, peremptory norms of international law from which no state may derogate. It explicitly links that crime to the structural racism, underdevelopment and racial inequalities that continue to afflict Africans and people of African descent across the world today. And it calls for concrete reparatory justice, full and formal apologies, restitution of cultural artefacts, compensation, rehabilitation and guarantees of non-repetition.

The resolution's preamble is remarkable in its historical precision. It traces the legal architecture of enslavement from the papal bulls of 1452 and 1455, which authorised the reduction of Africans to "perpetual slavery," through the Barbados Slave Code of 1661, the French Code Noir of 1685, and the Virginia partus sequitur ventrem principle of 1662, which made the status of property biologically inheritable through the womb of enslaved African mothers. This was, as the resolution states, the first global regime to convert human reproduction itself into a mechanism of capital accumulation. That is not ancient history. It is the foundation on which the modern global economy was built.

Critics, led by the #UnitedStates, one of only three nations to vote against, argue there is no legal right to reparations for wrongs not illegal under international law at the time. But this misses the point entirely. Those legal codes did not sit on the sidelines of history. They structured the accumulation of wealth that underpins the global hierarchy that exists today. The #EU, for its part, abstained rather than opposed, citing procedural technicalities and the use of the word "gravest." That distinction is telling, unwilling to say yes, unwilling to say no, caught between moral acknowledgement and political discomfort. Abstention, in this case, is its own statement.

Yesterday's vote did not happen in isolation. It follows a consistent pattern at the General Assembly, on the New International Economic Order in 2022, on global tax cooperation in 2023, and now on reparatory justice, in which roughly 123 to 125 nations of the Global South coalesce around a common demand for a fairer world, while the same bloc of wealthy states either opposes or steps back. The subjects differ, but the logic is the same. The rules of the international order were written by those who benefited from extraction, and the Global South is increasingly unwilling to pretend otherwise.

Co-sponsoring the resolution is a beginning, not an end. Our government must now integrate the full history of the slave trade into school curricula, push actively within the AU's 2026–2036 Decade of Action on Reparations, demand the restitution of our cultural artefacts and archives, and align our foreign policy with the broader Global South economic agenda. The three votes analysed here are not unrelated, reparations, tax justice and a new economic order are three faces of the same coin.

This is not about extracting payments for today's politicians. It is about repairing the broken foundations of dignity and self-determination that centuries of extraction shattered, and about building an international system fit for the twenty-first century rather than one still serving the interests of the nineteenth.

President Mahama has given Africa a powerful victory on the very day the world remembers the victims of slavery. History beckoned. #Africa answered. The road ahead will be long and contested, but yesterday, 123 nations spoke. And the world heard them. #slavery @AU_ECOSOCC @Makmid #SierraLeone @TimKabba

[African Union Political Affairs Peace and Security @AUC_PAPS]

📢4⃣th Cohort of African Youth Ambassadors for Peace (#AYAP) — Call for Applications Now Open!

Are you a passionate young African committed to building peaceful, resilient, and inclusive communities across the continent? This is your chance to represent your region and shape Africa’s peace and security landscape!

🔗 [English]
https://t.co/hzHSM6qxNP

🔗 [français]
https://t.co/28XIoWpIRK

[African Union ECOSOCC @AU_ECOSOCC]

📍We're at the @g20org Social Summit in Johannesburg #SouthAfrica 🇿🇦!

Watch our Head of Secretariat, Ambassador @WilCarew, speak for 1.8 billion Africans in Africa and the diaspora!

He noted that 🌍 holds about 30 percent of the world’s mineral reserves, about 60 percent of the world’s arable land, and has the youngest population, yet contributes less than 4 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. He called for Africa’s mineral wealth to be used to build industries and jobs on the continent rather than only exporting raw materials. He pointed to #Agenda2063, the @AfCFTA, the African Minerals Strategy, and the @_AfricanUnion #DecadeOfReparations as continental tools for advancing that change.

He said civil society must be included in decision making and that a #G20 without meaningful African engagement is incomplete.

Also opening the Summit were H.E. @PMashatile (Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa), Luanda Mpungose (Outreach and Partnership Manager at @SAIIA_info), Alvin Botes (Deputy Minister @DIRCO_ZA), Mr. @Lesufi (Premier of Gauteng Province), Prof. Narnia Bohler-Muller (@HSRC_DGSD), Ms. @ahunnaeziakonwa (@UN Assistant Secretary General and Director of @UNDP Regional Bureau for Africa), Dr. @phumlambongcuka (G20 Social Summit Co-Convenor), and Ald Nkosindiphile Xhakaza (Mayor of Ekurhuleni).

#Solidarity #Equality #Sustainability #ReKaofela

[African Union ECOSOCC @AU_ECOSOCC]

We're at the @wakatiwetufest (the biggest reparations festival) taking place in Nairobi, #Kenya 🇰🇪!

Our Head of Programmes, Mr. Kyeretwie Osei, joined the panel on Slavery, Colonialism and Racial Injustices, which explored #Africa’s history, the ongoing process of decolonization, and the meaning of #reparations today.

If you're at the festival., visit our booth and grab some Knowledge Products!

ℹ️: https://t.co/jxR6yxdE7r

#WakatiWetu #WakatiWetuFestival #ItIsOurTime #ReparationsFestival #YearOfReparations #AUTOTY2025

[ILRAJ @ILRAJ2]

Powerful insights from @SoeMarrah President of the @thelawyerssocsl, at the @ILRAJ2 Debate Championship. He spoke on how debating helped shape his legal career and expressed gratitude to ILRAJ for inspiring the next generation of thinkers and advocates. #SierraLeone

[ILRAJ @ILRAJ2]

Day 2 was elevated by wisdom from Madam Nyamacoro Sarata Silla @toubuya, retired nurse & advocate, urging stronger reading & communication skills; and Madam Marcella Samba-Sesay @cellasey Executive Director of @cggsalone, celebrating youth's role in democracy. Grateful for their insights! #ILRAJDebate #YouthEmpowerment #SierraLeone #InternationalGirlsDay

[Afrikan Reparations APPG @appg_ar]

"Reparations must dismantle existing hierarchies of power and build systems rooted in African values, sovereignty and solidarity" - @Makmid

Register for the UK Reparations Conference ⬇️
https://t.co/NUqsIijm1N

[Reform Initiatives @reforminitiate]

Have you imagined what a repaired future looks like? We have—and you’re part of it. Join us for Wakati Wetu Festival, Africa’s first & biggest reparations festival. Art, music & dialogue shaping a just future. Reg. soon! #wakatiwetufestival #itsourtime #Reparations

@BarazaLab

[Reform Initiatives @reforminitiate]

On this #InternationalYouthDay, we honour youth whose energy and innovation drive change for a just and sustainable future. From #HumanRights to #SDGs, young leaders are shaping reform. At Reform Initiatives, youth leadership is central to all we do.

#YouthEmpowerment

[African Union ECOSOCC @AU_ECOSOCC]

The 2025 Global Africa People-to-People Forum ended with a clear call to action: Reparations can't wait!

The Forum was a working space where African and Caribbean voices laid out clear steps to move #reparations from talk to policy. We tackled #trade, #debt, #education, and global power structures. Speakers called for joint strategies, legal reforms, and financial justice. #Youth voices pushed for accountability.

Reparations are not a theory. They are the unfinished business of independence.

Read how the Forum cut through the noise and set a new tone for action: https://t.co/nHoK5iMSFv

#YearOfReparations #AUTOTY2025 #ReparationsNow

[African Union Political Affairs Peace and Security @AUC_PAPS]

At the Continental Youth Consultation
SESSION2: Youth Rethinking #TransitionalJustice

Moderator: Mr. @Makmid, International Fund for Public Interest Media
Speakers:
• Mr. @LennonMonyae, @APRMorg
• Mr. Jonathan Ralph Kadurira,
• Mr. Immanuel Mwendwa Killu,
• Ms. Kisiwaa Gyan

[Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity @AFSEE_LSE]

Mass media in Africa is often treated as an afterthought during transitional justice interventions. Instead, writes @Makmid, the media should be treated as an integral actor in shaping transitional justice.

📚 Read the blog: https://t.co/kDXYrSqix0

[Reform Initiatives @reforminitiate]

🌍 Are you part of an African civil society org, movement, or think tank?

Take our Comms Needs Survey & help boost strategic comms for social change.

🔗 https://t.co/Q95RCLD2Fg

#africanvoices #socialchange #civilsociety #communications

[Reform Initiatives @reforminitiate]

📢 Reminder: The final webinar in the Charting Futures of Equity & Repair series is this Friday, May 23! Join us for a vital talk on reparations & justice for Africans & People of African Descent. ✊🏿⚖️

Register here: https://t.co/phGlQ8YwKL

[Reform Initiatives @reforminitiate]

📢 Reminder: Join us this Saturday, May 24, for the screening of “OMITTED” by The Black Curriculum at LOATAD, Accra.

Film + panel discussion + Q&A on colonialism’s legacy.

🕔 Doors open 5 PM GMT
🎟️ Free tickets (limited): https://t.co/0pTCvEVWNm

[Reform Initiatives @reforminitiate]

@CurriculumBlack @xveventsuk @XvEvents @loatad_org @Makmid @Sekyiwah_ @osagyefo1957 @ewuraadamskarim

[Reform Initiatives @reforminitiate]

We’ve launched the Communications Needs Assessment Survey with @jendagbeni, @IsodecGhana, @narrativeslab & @EcoHomef!

📌 Strengthen your org’s comms
🔗 Take the survey: https://t.co/tLX1BsNMgF

#africanvoices #socialchangecommunications #civilsociety #africancivilsociety

[Benson Olugbuo Ph.D. @benolugbuo]

Join us here: https://t.co/EOGrYgUK4W ⁦@amnesty⁩ ⁦@IntlCrimCourt⁩ ⁦@Afrcanetwork⁩ ⁦@⁩ ⁦@WumiShubby⁩ ⁦@Makmid⁩ ⁦@charlesabani⁩ ⁦@kamashazd⁩ ⁦@DallaireInst⁩ ⁦@justrutz⁩ ⁦@Assodesire⁩ ⁦@CharlesJalloh⁩ ⁦⁦

[Reform Initiatives @reforminitiate]

Join us May 23 for the final webinar on reparations for Africans & People of African Descent, ahead of Africa Day May 25.

Key Qs:
•How to move from moral demand to change?
•How to build transnational solidarity?

Register👇
https://t.co/Czjdmz7FDz

[Reform Initiatives @reforminitiate]

🎬 Join us for “OMITTED” – a powerful reparatory justice film by The Black Curriculum.
📅 Sat, 24 May | 🕔 5PM
📍 LOATAD, Adenta – Accra 🇬🇭
Film screening + panel + Q&A + networking.
🎟️ FREE! RSVP now: https://t.co/fSnNp0TtoF

#ReparationsNow #OMITTED