AU: Africa will not be held hostage

A CONFERENCE marking Africa Day was held at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, at the weekend.

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The event was devoted to the 62nd anniversary of the establishment of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), now the AU.

Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, the chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC), commenting in his address on this year’s theme “Justice for Africans and People of African Descent through Reparations,” spoke about “crimes committed during the period of slavery and colonisation against tens of millions of Africans.”

“While justice and reparations remain long overdue,’ Youssouf said, “Africa will not be held hostage by the pain of its past.”