Prof Takyiwa Manuh wins Franco-German Prize for Human Rights and Rule of Law for 2023.

Professor Takyiwaa Manuh, an Emeritus Professor of African Studies at the University of Ghana (UG) has been awarded the Franco-German Prize for Human Rights and Rule of Law for 2023.

The award was in recognition of her advocacy towards upholding the fundamental rights of the citizenry.

Established in 2016, the Franco-German Prize for Human Rights and Rule of Law each year rewards men and women who advocate forfreedom of expression and the media and the promotion of equity between men and women, who fight against torture, inhuman or degrading treatment, enforced disappearance, as well as violence and discrimination against women.

In brief remarks after receiving her award at the residence of the French Ambassador to Ghana Friday, Professor Manuhnoted a concerted effort was needed to guard and defend the fundamentals of the 1992 Constitution which Ghana had upheld since the inception of the fourth republic.

Moreover, she indicated that it was important for the country to recognise the intersection ties among human rightsand the rule of law, an inclusive society and dynamic civil society.

Professor Manuh further thanked the French and German Embassy for the recognition, as well as other civil society groups and movements she has been working with such as the Centre for Democratic Governance (CDD-Ghana), Media Foundation for West Africa, and the Network for Women’s Rights in Ghana, among others.

The French Ambassador to Ghana, Jules-Armand Aniambossou in his remake noted that the presentation of the award to Professor Manuh was an affirmation of universal rights which applied to all human race.

According to him, the presentation of the award was an indication that human rights wereattached to every individual irrespective of their colouras against the relativist narrative which argued that human rights did not attach to everyone and were Western rights good for some but not good for others.

Ambassador Aniambossou noted that a firm commitment and strong will were needed topromote human rights.

For her part, the Deputy Head of Mission and Chargé d’affaire, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, Sivine Jansen asserted that there was no other person who deserved such recognition than Professor Manuh.

She also lauded Professor Manuh for her effort in bridging the two worlds of academics and activism toward the promotion of human rights.

In attendance were the Commissioner of Human Rights and Administrative Justice, (CHRAJ), Mr Joseph Whittal, Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana (UG), Professor (Mrs) Nana Aba Appiah Amfo, Civil Society Groups, members of academia and other highranked dignitaries.

 BY BENJAMIN ARCTON-TETTEY