Judiciary
By Benprince Ezeh
THE African Bar Association, AfBA, says it is going to honour some past outstanding African heads of state for their role in the promotion of the rule of law in the Continent during its annual conference in October in Niamey, Republic of Niger.
The chairman of the AfBA Committee on Information and Public Communications, Osa Director, said that the list included former President Goodluck Jonathan, Ellen Johnson, former president of Liberia, Jakaya Kikwete, former president of Tanzania and Mahamadou Issoufou the immediate past president of Niger Republic.
Others are Festus Mogae, former president of Botswana and Navanethem Pillay, the first black woman to be appointed to the Supreme Court of South Africa will be honoured at the event.
Speaking at a news conference in Lagos, Osa explained that the event, which has the theme “Accountable Governance as a Panacea for the unending conflicts in Africa: The Legal Profession as The driver”, is expected to have over 2,000 participants in attendance and will seek to address issues on arresting the decline of obedience to court order and true observance of the rule of law by leaders in Africa.
Earlier, Hannibal Uwaifo, president of the AfBA said that political leadership in the continent should uphold the rule of law and stop the negative culture of spiting the rule of law in Africa.
Uwaifo told journalists that the association was deeply concerned over the dangerous disregard of the recent judgment of the ECOWAS Court on the case involving a Venezuelan diplomat, Alex Saab and the Government of Cape Verde
He said that Saab had been in detention in defiance of his diplomatic immunity and also the court judgment by the ECOWAS Court that ordered his release since March 15.
While speaking on this deplorable development in an age when countries should not be coerced to obey laws, he observed that beyond Cape Verde and the Saab’s case, such impunity against the law is already a culture that manifests in all countries of Africa and capable of eroding and choking life off the laudable Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement, AfCFTA, that came into force in January 2021, as an instrument to help grow the economy of the continent.
He stated that Saab, just like any other person, should be dealt with under the law, if he was found culpable. “The Saab case is a problem, which is going to haunt everyone. People can hide now and say the matter is of no consequence. As the foremost bar in Africa with the mandate to fight injustice, what we’re interested in is the protection of the institution of ECOWAS and the judiciary.
“If the man they’re pursuing has committed crimes, he should be arrested and dealt with in accordance with the law; you don’t come to African soil and abduct an individual. If the court says the man is free to go, that is what it is. All over the world, if the court pronounces that the man is free to go, will they arrest him and begin to pursue him or put him in jail?
“Look at the Bobby Wine case in Uganda. We are seeing gory pictures. This is problematic. We all must get up, if the people are unable to fight for themselves we must fight for them,” he said.
He said that lawyers in the continent were worried that the path currently being towed by Cape Verde was not only retrogressive but would bring the country to disrepute and make ECOWAS a weak organisation and become a laughing stock.
“This situation may lead to chaos, indiscriminate arrest of citizens, especially of Cape Verde without consequences. In fact, the situation will put African and West African Diplomats at risk. History may not be kind to your Cape Verde Islands,” he added.
– April 19, 2021 @ 14:19 GMT /
Tags: AfBA to honour former President Jonathan other African leaders in October in Niger
