Former President of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Dr Ernest Bai Koroma is taking upon himself to act as continental envoy for the African Court on Human and People’s Rights, a continental legal institution operating from Arusha.
Paying a courtesy visit to the African Court, Dr Koroma pointed out that there is the importance of strengthening institutions that protect human rights and people’s development on the continent.
“That is if our intended goal of achieving ‘the Africa we want,’ by 2063 is to be realized,” says Dr Koroma.
“Africa is the continent of the future in that the continent stores the badly needed natural resources and virgin land,” adds the former Sierra Leon’s Head of State.
Dr Koroma explains that African citizens who are the primary custodians of the abundant resources found on the continent face major challenges as far as their rights and existence is concerned and must be protected by all means.
In respect to that, the Retired Head of State is embarking on championing the course of ensuring that all countries on the continent ratify the protocol of establishing the African Court on Human and People’s Rights.
Earlier on, the President of the African Court Lady Justice Imani Aboud recalled the time when a delegation from the AfCHPR visited Sierra Leone, back in 2018.
She says that the Court’s Mission to Freetown managed to meet the country’s Head of State, Parliamentary Speaker as well as Ministers of Justice and Home Affairs.
Lady Justice Aboud told the former Head of State that the Court’s Mission was meant to encourage the Sierra Leone government to ratify the African Court protocol, but until now, more than five years later, the West African country has not yet done so.
“As you know the African Court is the Judicial arm of the African Union with the mandate to protect human and people’s rights in Africa whose protocol was adopted in June 1998, coming into force in January 2004,” she stated.
According to the African Court’s President however, out of the 55 Member States on the African Continent, it is only 33 countries that have ratified the Protocol and just 8 State Parties have deposited the declaration that allows individuals and Non-Government Organizations to file cases directly to the Arusha-based Court.
Meanwhile: Professor Dennis Dominic Adjei, a national of Ghana, has been elected a Judge of the African Court for a term of six years.
Prof Adjei was named African Court Judge at the just-ended 41st Ordinary Session of the Executive Council of the African Union held in Lusaka, Zambia.
At the same meeting, Justice Ntyam Ondo Mengue from Cameroon gets re-elected for a second and final term of six years.
Professor Adjei gets sworn-in during the opening of the four-week 66th Ordinary Session of the Court scheduled for 29 August 2022 at the seat of the African Court in Arusha, Tanzania, the seat of the Court.
This is in pursuant to Rule 3 of the Rules of Court and Article 16 of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights
The President of the Court, Hon Lady Justice Imani Daud Aboud, has congratulated the two Judges and wished them every success as they carry on the noble task of pursuing justice and protection of human rights in Africa.
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