AFRICAN COURT'S HEADQUARTER PROJECT STILL ON CARDS

BY GRACE MACHA IN ARUSHA

The headquarter project for the African Court on Human and People's Rights (AfCHPR) will soon be turned into a reality.

The Tanzania government has already availed 25 acres of land at Lakilaki area on the outskirts of Arusha city for the purpose.

In addition, it has advanced some $ 1.4 million being part of the funds needed to execute the project, including designs of the planned structures.

"We will continue our engagement with our host country, Tanzania, to make sure that our Court building project becomes a reality", said AfCHPR President Lady Justice Imani D. Aboud.

She said this last week when speaking on the  major areas of priority that the judicial organ of the African Union (AU) will implement this year.

She said there was no contention that the project would be realized given the commitment shown by Tanzania to host the legal facility.

In June last year, the Tanzania Parliament contributed the said funds ($1.4million) for the project implementation.

Architectural designs of the  permanent seat of the judicial organ have been prepared and presented to both the Court and the AU.

Construction of the AfCHPR seat was one of the measures being taken by the government to support the pan African court as a host nation.

Ms Aboud affirmed that Tanzania would continue to remain the headquarters of the Court  despite ditching a Declaration on NGOs.

She was confident that more AU member countries would deposit their Declaration allowing NGOs and individuals to file cases directly before it.

"Although the deposition of the Declaration is slower than expected, there is certainly light at the end of the tunnel", she said.

Ms Aboud lauded the AU for its overall support to the Court, saying without it AfCHPR would not achieve what it has done so far.

"It (the Court) will neither work alone without support from the member states. I would like to take this opportunity to commend them for the unwavering commitment", she pointed out.

This year (2023), the Court would engage in a constructive dialogue with the member countries, the AfCHPR further explained.

African governments, on their part, should renew their commitment to the original aim that led to the establishment of the African Court.

"For that reason, we will continue to conduct sensitization visits to AU member states in 2023.

"We will continue to develop our partnership with member states, donors and human rights stakeholders, among others", she pointed out.

Ms Aboud went on; "We will continue our drive towards international accreditations, and continue increasing our recognition and reputation as a continental human rights court, both at home and abroad.

The continental judicial organ relocated to Tanzania way back in 2007 when the latter decided  "to provide it with the best working conditions".

Ever since, the Court has been operating from a building belonging to the Tanzania National Parks (Tanapa) along the Dodoma road.

However, Tanzania's bond with the Court suffered a setback in 2019 when the government  withdrew from  the Declaration on NGOs and individuals.

Tanzania joined Rwanda, Cote d'Ivoire and Benin  in ditching the disputed Declaration, raising eyebrows on its commitment as a host nation.

Lady Justice Aboud, had repeatedly said they were still consulting with the government on the possibility of reversing its withdrawal.