Journal of African Studies and Sustainable Development

The task of ensuring that the atrocious events of the past shape and determine the better ordering of contemporary society seems to be a lesson that is lost on many African nations. This explains why violent con?ict and the ?agrant abuse of human rights persist. Interestingly, the African Union seems to have responded to this problem by the establishment of the Human Rights Memorial (AUHRM) project. Unfortunately, this project is yet to be fully implemented continentally and appropriated by many member states, most of which are still complicit in the escalation of violence and various forms of abuses. It becomes expedient to respond to this challenge. Hence, this essay makes a case for the necessity of memorialization and suggests ways of bypassing the 'power' obstacles in order to promote the process of memorialization in today's Africa. Quite interestingly, it argues that the African worldview of communitycenteredness provides a philosophical foundation for the reasoning and implementation of the AU project of memorialization.

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