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Where should a country’s leader sleep at night?
Where should a country’s leader sleep at night?

Should Zambia’s president live in his own home? It’s a question that was raised in the constitutional court recently by Sean Tembo, head of a Zambian opposition party. The seven judges of that court had been asked by Tembo to find that the country’s president, Hakainde Hichilema, should have been living in state house instead of his own home. Tembo cited the cost and inconvenience to the public of the daily presidential cavalcade from his private home to his offices in state house, and asked the court to find that the expense was unjustified and unconstitutional.

Inaugural meeting and conference of African Network of Judicial Trainers
Inaugural meeting and conference of African Network of Judicial Trainers

The work of the Judicial Institute for Africa (Jifa) and the African Legal Information Institute (AfricanLII) was showcased at this week’s inaugural three-day AGM and conference of the African Network of Judicial Trainers (ANJT), held in Zanzibar. A number of important projects were launched or unveiled at the event, including an inaugural project to draw up a shared ethics manual on judicial training for trainers.

Traditional healer dupes woman into quitting her home; supreme court comes to the rescue
Traditional healer dupes woman into quitting her home; supreme court comes to the rescue

A desperate woman who says she was duped by a local Namibian traditional healer into selling him her house at a small fraction of its true value, has been helped by the supreme court to keep her case alive. Elizabeth Neis, a retired nurse, consulted the healer because she had landed in financial trouble. He agreed to help her, but told her that her house was inhabited by evil spirits who would cause the death of someone from her family if they stayed on in the house. He proposed that Neis should sell him her house and said he would buy her another place. He did not buy her another house however, and Neis, homeless and by now quite desperate, took the matter to the high court. There, the court granted an application brought by the traditional healer’s legal team for absolution from the instance, meaning that the case was essentially thrown out for not having been proved. But Neis appealed, and, in one of its final decisions of 2023, the supreme court held that Neis had been unduly influenced by the traditional healer and set aside the absolution order. This means that the case will continue before the high court, with the court now having to consider the supreme court findings on such issues as the mental state of Neis at the time and the undue influence over her by the traditional healer.

Tensions high in Kenya as President attacks judiciary
Tensions high in Kenya as President attacks judiciary

The health of judicial independence in Kenya has come under scrutiny since the start of this new year. That’s ever since the president, William Ruto, launched a reinvigorated war of words on the judiciary. He called the judiciary ‘corrupt’ and threatened to ignore court orders that delayed his planned public development projects. As the row continues, the CJ has urged her judicial colleagues to continue doing their work as usual and promised her support to them. The judiciary has also been given backing from both local and international supporters of the courts and judicial independence. Among others, members of the legal profession planned to protest at the supreme court to show their support for the judiciary.

Landmark Gaza case at the International Court of Justice
Landmark Gaza case at the International Court of Justice

No conflict has divided world opinion like the war now being waged in Gaza. But supporters of both sides have been caught up in the drama of this week’s historic sessions of the International Court of Justice.

New challenges to judicial independence in Uganda
New challenges to judicial independence in Uganda

Indications are growing of a worrying trend to weaken judicial independence in Uganda. This week, the Ugandan judiciary issued a statement entitled ‘Interference of court processes undermines judicial independence’ in which it expressed misgivings about a government district commissioner who had been ‘meddling in court matters’. But just last month, the country’s president, Yoweri Museveni, ‘meddled’ even more dramatically, writing a letter to the chief justice, saying the CJ should investigate a controversial judicial decision authorising the auctioning of the national mosque, even implying the CJ should ensure the decision was overturned.

Eswatini’s highest court reverses itself; holds customary marriages are ‘lawful’
Eswatini’s highest court reverses itself; holds customary marriages are ‘lawful’

It’s rare for any country’s apex court to reverse an earlier decision it had made and say it was wrongly decided. But Eswatini’s supreme court has recently done just that. In fact, it went even further, and declared that elements of two of its own decisions needed to be set aside as made in error. The key issue in the case was the status of marriages in Eswatini, made in terms of local customary law. Both the two earlier decisions had upheld the consequences of a 1902 colonial law, and concluded that such marriages were not ‘lawful’. The particular result of that finding in the new case was to question the jurisdiction of the master of the high court to deal with the deceased estate of someone married under customary law.

Crucial case on judicial independence unfolds in Seychelles
Crucial case on judicial independence unfolds in Seychelles

While many readers were enjoying a well-deserved year-end break, the apex court of Seychelles was deciding another phase in what appears to be a crucial case on judicial independence. Three petitioners – the Seychelles human rights commission, ombudsman and bar association – are jointly challenging the lawfulness of a controversial constitutional amendment, saying it undermined the rule of law. But before the main case was argued, the petitioners asked the judges hearing the matter to recuse themselves. That’s because an official government statement, issued at the time the amendment was ratified, indicated that ‘the judiciary’ had helped finalise the amendment. The notice particularly named the supreme court and the appeal court. Since the judges hearing the challenge were thus included, they should step down, said the petitioners. In addition, the chief justice was believed to have received land from the state at a price lower than its true value, and a reasonable person might thus question the CJ’s ability to adjudicate impartially in matters involving the interests of government. When the supreme court judges hearing the matter refused to recuse themselves, or to grant leave to appeal, the petitioners turned to the apex court of Seychelles. In record time, the appeal court has now given its decision.

Power of attorney: does it give non-lawyers the right to litigate?
Power of attorney: does it give non-lawyers the right to litigate?

Complaints about ‘fake lawyers’ have been surfacing in several African jurisdictions. But what about people who don’t even pretend to be lawyers? What if they claim instead that even though aren’t legally qualified, they have the right to represent a ‘client’ in court, via a power of attorney?  A new Zambian judgment makes clear that the courts in that country at least, will take a tough line should they be faced with such a claim.

Nasty Supreme Court surprise for Namibian man who hid properties from ex-wife to avoid child maintenance increases
Nasty Supreme Court surprise for Namibian man who hid properties from ex-wife to avoid child maintenance increases

Namibia’s supreme court has given a scathing judgment in the case of a man who resorted to fraud or attempted fraud to hide his new property acquisitions so his ex-wife couldn’t access them for child maintenance. Instead, the properties were bought in the name of his then-fiancée so that they would appear not to belong to him. The judges have held that such an agreement was against public policy, ‘morally reprehensible’ and thus unenforceable. The man, who has since walked out on his fiancée and married someone else, was trying to get the properties back from his fiancée now that their relationship had ended. The supreme court ordered that he should get 60% of the two properties and his former fiancée, 40%. The judges also approved the high court’s order that the former fiancée be paid N$5 000 for breach of his promise to marry her.

Kenyan magistrate loses court battle against judge co-contender for top job at law body
Kenyan magistrate loses court battle against judge co-contender for top job at law body

Kenyan magistrate Derrick Kuto made headlines in December 2021 when he became the first magistrate to head the Kenya Magistrates and Judges Association. After outvoting high court judge Patrick Otieno, by 290 votes to 113, Kuto took over as president of the association. The term of office is for two years, renewable once. Kuto has clearly expected a second two years in office, but his bid hasn’t been straightforward. It has taken a detour through the high court’s constitutional and human rights division, where the judge who heard the dispute, Enock Mwita, has now delivered a judgment dismissing Kuto’s petition.

Kenyan lawyer must personally repay funds received from ‘corrupt deal’
Kenyan lawyer must personally repay funds received from ‘corrupt deal’

A prominent Kenyan lawyer has been ordered personally to pay Kshs10 million to the country’s Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC). In a decision handed down last week, high court judge Esther Maina said Joseph Owino Kojwando had acted to conceal the source of funds and that he was not entitled to keep any part of the money as ‘instruction fees’, since this would unjustly benefit him. The case dealt with land acquired by the then city council of Nairobi to use as a cemetery, in a deal that has since been held by several high court judges to have been fraudulent. According to the EACC, Kojwando was paid Kshs10 million as part of the cemetery deal. The judge also ordered that Kojwando pay the legal costs of the case plus interest at 12% from the date he received the money until it’s paid, in full, to the EACC

Zambia's constitutional court upholds judge's dismissal
Zambia's constitutional court upholds judge's dismissal

Five judges of Zambia’s constitutional court have rejected an application by a former member of the high court bench, Joseph Banda, challenging the decision of the country’s president, Hakainde Hichilema, to remove him from office in May 2022. The action against Banda is part of the current government’s declared push to fight corruption. However, in addition to upholding the decision to remove Banda, the judgment also shows that the process of holding Zambian judges to account on matters of misconduct is not operating as it should.

Explained: why the UK’s highest court declared Rwanda agreement unlawful
Explained: why the UK’s highest court declared Rwanda agreement unlawful

A combination of factors led the UK’s apex supreme court to hold that the government’s deal with Rwanda wasn’t lawful. Among them was Rwanda’s poor human rights record, and the Rwandan judiciary’s lack of independence. The deal, outsourcing the management of asylum-seekers to Kigali, is a key element of the UK government’s policy. But it has also been hotly contested, both in political debate and in the UK courts. Initially, the divisional court dismissed a challenge to the deal, but that approach has now been twice rejected, first by the court of appeal and more recently, by the UK’s supreme court. Here’s what the top court found.

Successful human trafficking prosecution could see Namibia’s ratings improve
Successful human trafficking prosecution could see Namibia’s ratings improve

Namibia’s high court has convicted four people in relation to the trafficking of two young girls, one of them from Angola. Their convictions include infringement of immigration laws, not sending children to school, kidnapping, common assault and rape. In its 2022 global report on trafficking in persons, the US state department rated Namibia as Tier 1 because of its continued commitment to deal with trafficking. However, Namibia was downgraded to Tier 2 in the 2023 report, because of several problems like ‘inappropriately’ penalizing trafficking victims by imprisoning or deporting them, for offences ‘solely committed as a direct result of being trafficked.’ The investigation and prosecution in this new case will likely be among the factors that the US state department considers when ranking Namibia in its next report.

Passionate about justice for ‘invisible’ people
Passionate about justice for ‘invisible’ people

Many readers will have seen reports quoting Thandeka Chauke, a staffer with Lawyers for Human Rights in South Africa, and one of the forces behind efforts to address statelessness in Southern Africa. We wanted to know more about her and her work, and to ask for a heads-up about litigation in this field that could be important for the region.

Major citizenship strides for stateless in Kenya, Tanzania, Republic of Congo
Major citizenship strides for stateless in Kenya, Tanzania, Republic of Congo

As the UNHCR marks another year of working towards a world where every person has a nationality and all the rights that go along with it, important results have been reported during 2023 so far. Here we take a look at three of the top achievements in Africa, as listed by the UN’s refugee agency. The agency is behind a 10 year programme, aimed at ending statelessness in every part of the world.

Pioneering legal victory for childhood statelessness fight
Pioneering legal victory for childhood statelessness fight

The staggering size of Southern Africa’s childhood statelessness problem is mostly hidden, even though an estimated 12 million children under five years old aren’t registered at birth. Tebogo Khoza was one of them, and the impact on his life has been devastating. But Khoza is one of the lucky ones: after many years of fruitless effort, stymied by official bloody-mindedness, he found lawyers to help him. Now, after a landmark case, a court has ordered that he be given the documentation he needs – and his life as a full member of the community can begin at last.

Namibia’s Fishrot scandal: fishing crew sue over non-payment for court-ordered dismissal compensation
Namibia’s Fishrot scandal: fishing crew sue over non-payment for court-ordered dismissal compensation

Until recently, the public story of Namibia’s massive corruption scandal, nicknamed ‘Fishrot’, has focused on legal action brought against the big-name role-players. The scam involves a major Icelandic company as well as top Namibians, in a sleazy operation featuring kickbacks paid for procuring fishing quotas in Namibian waters. With prominent politicians including two former Namibian cabinet members, along with wealthy business people among the accused, the vulnerable victims of one aspect of the scandal were often overlooked. But now they are fighting back. One group of men who worked on a fishing vessel that was part of the scandal were suddenly dismissed from their jobs at the end of 2018. When they challenged their dismissal before the labour commissioner, they won an award declaring that they were unlawfully sacked and ordering that they be paid compensation. Despite many efforts, however, they have never been paid. Now they are headed to court with a personal claim against an Icelandic official allegedly involved in the scandal, and against one of the companies similarly impugned.

Did Malawi’s ‘hyena’ have a fair trial – or was he ‘taking a hit’ for embarrassing local cultural practices?
Did Malawi’s ‘hyena’ have a fair trial – or was he ‘taking a hit’ for embarrassing local cultural practices?

The story of Eric Aniva and his extraordinary occupation made world headlines after a BBC interview in July 2016. He said he was a ‘hyena’, someone whose job, in the culture of southern Malawi, involved having sex with girls at puberty and with new widows, as a ritual sexual cleansing. Soon after that interview was published, and in the wake of a public outcry in Malawi and elsewhere, he was arrested, charged, convicted and then sentenced to two years hard labour. But now a senior legal academic is questioning whether Aniva had a fair trial, or whether he simply took a hit for local cultural practices that embarrass Malawi.

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