PRESIDENT John Dramani Mahama has urged African Union (AU) Member States to ratify the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the establishment of the African Court on Human and People’s Rights.
He said 20 years after the establishment of the Court, it was time to deepen commitment for it to continue to protect the rights and dignity of African people beyond the borders of individual nations.
Delivering the keynote address at the official opening of the 2026 Judicial Year and 20th Anniversary of the Court in Arusha, Tanzania, yesterday, President Mahama assured countries that were yet to ratify the Protocol that they have nothing to fear from the Court.
“I humbly ask all African nations and individuals to respect and implement the Court’s judgements in good faith and to also make the declaration to allow individuals and NGOs direct access to the Court,” President Mahama urged.
Established in 2004, only 34 of the 55 AU countries, as of 2023, have ratified the Protocol, with a paltry eight of the 34, including Ghana, recognising the Court’s competence and jurisdiction to accept cases from individuals and non-governmental organisations, data from the Court’s website shows.
The Court has, since its inception, given rulings in 463 cases, including 278 judgements and 185 orders.
According to President Mahama, much as the Court was not established earlier than one would have wished, its role in safeguarding the rights of citizens of the continent could not be overlooked.
Citing what he called injustices and abuses of rights and dignity of Africa’s early independence strugglers and advocates of democracy and good governance, President Mahama said justice would have been served if the Court had existed.
“Had the African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights existed earlier in our past, these grave instances of human rights abuse and injustice would have been very important cases to adjudicate,” he stated.
“We would have secured justice against racist apartheid criminals, colonialists and even our own oppressive African dictators who tortured and killed many,” he added.
The current generation, President Mahama emphasised, had a responsibility to actualise the dreams of a free and just continent envisioned by the early freedom fighters.
He observed that over the past two decades of its operation, the Court had proven time and again that it had the fortitude and courage to recalibrate Africa’s moral compass.
That kind of oversight, he noted, was needed to remain observant and respectful of the rights and duties enumerated in the articles of the Banjul Charter, a regional human rights instrument that promotes and protects fundamental human rights across Africa.
To him, the time had come for the Court to be empowered and supported to be the institution that stands guard over the ideals contained in the Banjul Charter, protecting and preserving the continent’s greatest inheritance.
“So, allow me to say…that the time is now. Now is the time for us to meet the challenge of keeping the promises we have made to future generations — promises we have signed and pledged to uphold. Now is the time to deepen our commitment to the Court, so that in 20 years, when we celebrate its 40th anniversary, it will stand as the leading international judicial body and a model for others. Now is the time for Africa to step into its greatness,” President Mahama declared.
BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI
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