Colonial Wrongdoings Shouldn't Be Atoned By Monetary Reparations


By Terewa Buhere

As we celebrate this Jamhuri Day, I would like to reflect on the sticky issue of reparations. There has been a raging debate in the recent times on the topic of reparations for victims of the repressive colonial rule in Africa. In July this year, a UK court granted four elderly Kenyans the go-ahead to sue the British government over colonial torture they suffered in the 1950s. Indeed some of our problems today can be traced- in part or in whole—to colonialism.

Tribalism exists partly because the British grouped us into tribes and thus we were made to believe we were different. The French did the same in Rwanda where ethnic tensions blew into genocide in 1994. Even though it is true that colonialists inflicted insurmountable suffering to Africans, it is inappropriate and unethical for the victims to demand monetary compensation for the atrocities committed by the former European colonial powers.

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Well, I belief focusing in the future is always way out, as future belong to those who plan for it.
No matter what challenge anybody or country is facing is as a result of lack of something not decision by any external forces. That is to say the challenge is within not without.