Leaders must consider support for a reparations resolution in November ’26, says St Vincent & the Grenadines ex-PM.
What are reparations for slavery & colonialism, & will the UK pay?
It may be ‘inconceivable’ that reparatory justice from Britain for the transatlantic trade of enslaved Africans is not ‘front & centre’ of the next Commonwealth leaders’ meeting due later this year. So said Ralph Gonsalves, the former Prime Minister of St Vincent & the Grenadines.
Gonsalves was in Jamaica to discuss the next steps of the ‘alive & growing’ movement. The purpose was to advocate for the reparations for hundreds of years of chattel slavery.
The opposition leader was recently appointed an elder and, besides, an adviser for the Repair Campaign. The campaign is a social movement for reparatory justice founded by the Irish telecom tycoon Denis O’Brien.
Gonsalves was instrumental in setting up the Caribbean Community’s (CARICOM) reparations commission in supporting Caribbean governments’ call for recognition of the lasting legacy of colonialism, besides enslavement. Additionally, he called for reparative justice from former colonisers.
He added that the leaders of the 56-country Commonwealth grouping, which includes 33 Caribbean & African nations, may not be able to ignore the strong momentum towards a reparations resolution.
Between the 5th & the 19th centuries, more than 12.5 million Africans had been kidnapped. They were forcibly transported to the Americas & sold into slavery.
This issue dominated headlines during the last Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), which was held nearly 17 months back in October ’24. The last meeting was when the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, resisted pressure from member states to include reparations in the summit’s agenda.
Gonsalves added that ‘in light of what transpired last time at CHOGM & considering the progress which has been made since then, including the activist agenda for the reparations movement happening in both the Caribbean and Africa, it may be absolutely inconceivable that they wouldn’t have this topic included, with this being the front & centre of the summit.
