Yesterday, 25th May was African Union Day. A day set aside to reflect on the unity, progress, and challenges of the African continent.

In his address to mark the occasion, President John Dramani Mahama offered a powerful reminder of our shared history. He stated, “For too long, the legacy of slavery, colonialism and neo-colonialism has cast a long shadow on the lives and progress of Africans and people of African descent.”

He went on to say, “These historical injustices have left deep scars. Reparations are not merely about financial compensation—they are about acknowledging the profound and enduring damage inflicted upon our people.” These words are weighty and necessary. But as we confront the past, we must also reckon with our present.

The uncomfortable truth is this: while African leaders rightly condemn neo-colonialism and imperialism, many have, themselves, created new forms of internal oppression—sometimes even more damaging than the colonial systems they replaced.

Across the continent, there is a growing divide. On one side, we see a privileged class of politically connected elites who live in a different reality altogether—one of state-funded comfort, multiple allowances, chauffeur-driven vehicles, and unquestioned access to power and wealth.

On the other side are the masses—the nurses, teachers, farmers, artisans, the unemployed youth—who are constantly told to tighten their belts, to endure, to hope, and to keep sacrificing.

This is not just inequality. It is state capture. It is kleptocracy. It is a betrayal of the very ideals of independence and liberation.

And what makes it even more painful is that this betrayal is not coming from foreign rulers. It is coming from our own. Our own brothers and sisters. Our own kin. The ones who claim to fight for justice in international forums but deny it daily to their own people at home.

They cry neo-colonialism with clenched fists, yet rule with imperial hearts. They denounce the West for historical plunder, yet plunder their own nations with bold impunity.

They demand justice from the world but offer very little of it within their own borders.

This is the paradox of modern Africa. While we continue to demand reparations and justice from those who once enslaved us, many of our own leaders are enslaving us anew through corruption, misgovernance, and a relentless pursuit of personal gain at the expense of the people.

We must ask ourselves: What good are reparations for past injustice if today's leaders deepen inequality and exclusion right before our eyes?

African Union Day must be more than ceremonial speeches and official hashtags. It must be a mirror, not a mask. A mirror that forces us to confront not only what was done to us, but what we are doing to ourselves.

True liberation is not just freedom from foreign domination—it is freedom from domestic betrayal. It is the day when leadership is measured not by wealth or title, but by how well the most vulnerable in society are treated.

Until then, the dream of Pan-Africanism will remain half-fulfilled. The chains may look different, but the bondage remains. Let today be a day of truth, not just tradition.