Addis Ababa, 11 November 2025 – In the hushed halls of the African Union headquarters, words echoed with rare intensity: “There can be no justice without land justice.” On the second day of the 6th African Land Policy Conference, the session titled “Colonial Discontinuities: Reconsidering Land Justice and Reparations” prompted deep reflection on the historical wounds that continue to shape the continent’s land landscapes.
Around the table, researchers, legal experts, and policymakers discussed a topic long considered too sensitive: how to remedy land injustices inherited from colonialism without reopening social wounds. Faces were serious, words carefully measured. Yet, the debate was vital.
The choice of this theme was deliberate. Across Africa—from the plains of Kenya to the forests of Cameroon—discussions about land restitution and historical reparations have been gaining momentum in recent years. Experts in Addis Ababa emphasized that colonization profoundly reshaped the continent’s land map: massive land appropriation, population displacement, and the imposition of property systems alien to traditional community practices.
“Colonial land injustices did not just dispossess people of their lands; they destroyed value systems, social bonds, and entire local economies,” highlighted Dr. Justice Smokin Wanjala, one of the day’s panelists. Her tone was calm, but every word struck with precision. Africa, she explained, still lives under the shadow of a past that structures present inequalities—from the concentration of land in the hands of a few elites to recurring land conflicts that sometimes fuel ethnic or political tensions.
A key idea emerged during the session: colonial discontinuity is largely superficial. In reality, many African countries inherited legal and cadastral frameworks that perpetuate colonial logics. Dr. Choruma Dozwa emphasized that current land systems—often centralized and state-controlled—continue to exclude rural populations and indigenous peoples. “We must stop believing that independence automatically meant land liberation. Colonial administrative structures simply changed hands, not their nature,” she stated. This “persistent coloniality,” as she called it, manifests in several ways: in land laws codified during colonial times, in titling mechanisms favoring urban and commercial actors, and even in the perception of property itself, often reduced to market value. The discussion then moved into the political realm: can one truly speak of land justice without addressing land sovereignty? The answer from several speakers was clear: no.
While the word “reparations” remains charged with emotion and controversy, panelists urged a deconstruction and contextualization of the term. For Dr. Jimmy Ochom, a land historian and postcolonial policy expert, reparations go beyond financial or symbolic compensation. They must be conceived as structural rebalancing. “To repair is first to restore communities’ power over their land—to restore their right to decide, to produce, to exist according to their own logics,” he explained. This vision aligns with a broader movement sweeping several African countries today: calls for community land restitution, recognition of customary rights, and inclusive land reforms. Yet the challenge remains immense. Governments often struggle to reconcile economic development—frequently dependent on land investments—with historical justice.
The discussions on this second day highlighted a constant tension: how to promote growth while addressing the past? Several participants warned of the risk that new land policies could replicate old patterns under new forms: land grabbing for commercial agriculture, special economic zones, or mining projects insensitive to local rights. “We cannot speak of sustainable development on unjust land,” stressed one participant from Ghana. This concern reflects one of the conference’s key objectives: to place land justice at the heart of climate resilience and social peace. In other words, equitable access to land is not merely an economic issue—it is also ecological and moral.
Amid the exchanges, a conviction emerged: Africa’s land history must be rewritten. Not to dwell on past injustices, but to rebuild land governance based on dignity, recognition, and participation.
“African universities must be spaces for reclaiming land knowledge, not just recipients of imported models,” Dr. Choruma Dozwa insisted. Her call resonated both as a conclusion and a warning: as long as Africa does not decolonize its land thinking, it will remain trapped by territorial injustices.
As participants left the room, they seemed aware they had witnessed a foundational discussion. Far from a mere academic exercise, the debate on colonial discontinuities revealed a pressing political reality: Africa cannot build a just land future without confronting the memory of dispossession. Between calls for land restitution, recognition of customary rights, and the pursuit of true land reconciliation, the path toward justice and reparations remains long—but it is now clearly marked.
“Land is not just property,” Dr. Ochom reminded in his closing words. “It is identity, history, and future. And Africa deserves all three.”
By Franck Zongwe
