NEW AFRICAN COURT PRESIDENT ROOTS TO WIN TRUST OF LEADERS

  

Newly elected President of the African Court on Human and People's Rights (AfCHPR) is keen to enable the organ to win back the trust of the African leaders.

Lady Justice Imani Daud Aboud from Tanzania affirmed, however, that she would not waver on her pursuit for the human rights agenda.

She said in Arusha on Tuesday a day after she was elected to head the judicial organ of the African Union (AU) based in Arusha that the Court needs to win the public trust.

"Our ambition is to deepen the public's trust in the African Court. Our path, however, remains to be an improvement of the continental human rights landscape", she said.

She said when launching the five year Strategic Plan for the Court that she would steer the Court to achieve greater confidence by the African citizens, states and institutions.

This, she observed, will be achieved through "a combination of initiatives and mechanisms that build on the core principle on which this Court is founded".

Lady Justice Aboud added that her envisaged path was for the Court to work "more closely" with its various stakeholders such as the national courts and governments.

Other groups that would be reached out are the human rights institutions, NGOs, bar  associations, Parliaments, academia and the media. 

"We also envisage to enhance our collaboration with international partners such as the UN human rights bodies", she explained.

The new African Court boss from Tanzania in her maiden speech after taking over from Justice Sylvain Ore from Cote d'Ivoire did not say how she will address declining cooperation from some states.

Since 2016, six AU member countries, including Tanzania, had pulled out of a Court's Declaration allowing NGOs and individuals to file cases directly before it. 

That left only six countries as parties to the contentious Declaration, further isolating the Court from the majority of countries which signed a protocol for its creation in 1998.

She could not as well reveal her strategies to reach out to the African leaders, especially the 24 countries which have not ratified the protocol that created the organ.

However,the soft-spoken former Judge of the High Court of Tanzania and a graduate of University of Dar  es Salaam's Law School affirmed she would strive for a change.

"The African Court will seek ways to actively seek out new ways to strengthen the complementarity nature of its human rights protection mandate", she pointed out.

Speaking during her swearing in, the Arusha regional commissioner John Mongela reaffirmed the government's commitment as host country to the court. 

He said Tanzania would ensure full implementation of the terms of the 2007 Host Agreement between the government and the AU. 

The court started operations in Addis Ababa, the AU headquarters  and relocated to Arusha in 2007, three years after Tanzania ratified the protocol establishing it. 

Mr. Mongela added that Tanzania was "committed to the spirit of the Court" and was ready to ensure that the Court "discharges its mandate under the best conditions".

Lady Justice Aboud has also to deal with the delay of the Court to construct its permanent premises in Arusha after securing a plot for the purpose some years back.

She is the second Tanzanian to win the post after the late Judge Augustino Ramadhani who served in the position from 2014 to 2016.