Latest Articles

All years
End of the road for Ghana Bank official, sacked after taking King’s cash by cab for depositing
End of the road for Ghana Bank official, sacked after taking King’s cash by cab for depositing

When you are summoned by His Majesty, Ghanaian King Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, courtesy demands that you attend as quickly as you can. But how could London banker Mark Frank Arthur, second most senior official of Ghana International Bank, have known that the summons, via the king’s wife, would lead to his dismissal from the bank – and, he now fears, to his becoming unemployable in the financial sector?

Malawi police will be investigated for suspect's torture death
Malawi police will be investigated for suspect's torture death

The Malawi Human Rights Commission this week released a report finding police responsible for the death, by torture, of a man unlawfully arrested on suspicion of being involved in the abduction and killing of a child with albinism. This is just the latest development in the horror of Malawi's increasingly endangered albino people, murdered for their body parts to satisfy occult beliefs, and it follows just days after a high court judge passed the death sentence on the convicted killer of a man with albinism (see separate story below).

Bank 'secrecy' ruling a blow for transparency, media freedom
Bank 'secrecy' ruling a blow for transparency, media freedom

The High Court of Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) has upheld and defended the secrecy surrounding that country's central bank. The court had been asked by the governor of the central bank for an interdict preventing a local newspaper from reporting on a leaked confidential document relating to Farmer Bank, Eswatini's newest financial institution. When the  Times  asked the governor a number of questions relating to the central bank's investigations on whether to grant the banking licence, he demanded an undertaking that 'the report' would not be published. And when the undertaking was not given, the bank went to court. The judge accepted that strict confidentiality had to be preserved 'at all costs' and that any leak could upset the country's financial stability and impact on central banks 'worldwide'.

'Devilish', 'primitive' murder of man with albinism warrants death sentence – Malawi judge
'Devilish', 'primitive' murder of man with albinism warrants death sentence – Malawi judge

The last court-imposed execution was carried out in Malawi during 1992. Some 15 people were on death row at the end of 2017, and though the number has increased since then there have been no further hangings. However, the question of whether the death penalty will ever actually be carried out has now been given a new urgency, following the sentence of a man convicted for murdering a fellow villager with albinism in the apparent belief that this would make him rich. Sentencing the accused, the judge reasoned that the whole country lived in fear because of “devilish, primitive” crimes against albino people, and that the courts had a duty to impose the ultimate sentence as a deterrent.

“Raging” debate on bail sorted by Tanzania’s highest court
“Raging” debate on bail sorted by Tanzania’s highest court

When members of a country’s highest judicial forum speak of a dispute that is “raging” in the courts there, readers should take note. Obviously, something important is going on. In the case of Mwita Joseph Ikoh and two co-accused, that “something” is the issue of which court has jurisdiction to consider whether they may be given bail: the high court, or the specialised division of the high court that deals with corruption and economic crimes. Earlier this month the Court of Appeal decided the question – and the “raging” debate should now be settled.

Jifa newsletter “essential reading”: judge trainer
Jifa newsletter “essential reading”: judge trainer

This week’s Core Skills course offered by the Judicial Institute for Africa brought a new group of judges together from all over the continent. Even the faculty teaching the course had some new faces, one of them being Judge Sanji Monageng, who was once a magistrate in Botswana, as well as a judge in The Gambia and on the International Criminal Court among other judicial positions. Jifa’s Newsletter chatted to her briefly about her experience over the week of training and about the newsletter itself – and discovered she regards the weekly newsletter as “essential reading”.

Justice for these elderly folk – 21 years later
Justice for these elderly folk – 21 years later

Well over 20 years ago the Kampala municipal authorities retrenched a group of long-serving workers. But they were not paid their full termination benefits. For more than two decades the group has been fighting to get the money to which they are entitled. They were ultimately awarded a certain sum plus damages by the high court in 2015 but they appealed, saying it was far too little. Now Uganda's Court of Appeal has given its decision on the matter. Would the judges find the pensioners ought to have been better compensated after 21 years of poverty?

Lesotho police service becoming "an institution of official torture" - constitutional court
Lesotho police service becoming "an institution of official torture" - constitutional court

The police in Lesotho, rapidly acquiring a reputation for acting as though they are above the law and even above the courts, have had a rude awakening: that country’s constitutional court has delivered a strongly-worded decision taking the police authorities to task for not obeying the law, and clarifying the rights of suspects in relation to police arrests, detention and interrogation. The judges found that the police violated the constitutional rights of two suspects, held far beyond the time provided for by the law and under unlawful conditions. They also said that, against the background of a “disturbing public outcry about increasing deaths of suspects in police custody”, it was time for “a judicial response” by way of “guidelines” for the police, prosecutors and the magistrates court.

‘Demeaning’ to portray counsellor as HIV-positive sex worker? – court rules
‘Demeaning’ to portray counsellor as HIV-positive sex worker? – court rules

A specialised network of organisations responding to the issues of HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis in Kenya has come in for some unwelcome publicity. This after it used a photograph of one of its own staff on its website, with a caption that identified her as "an HIV positive sex worker waiting for treatment". The staffer in the photograph was awarded damages by Kenya's HIV/AIDS tribunal, but her employers appealed. They argued that it was not "demeaning" to say someone was a sex worker nor was she defamed when it was said of her that she was HIV positive. What would be the response of Judge Joseph Sergon of the High Court in Nairobi?

Controversy follows this Ugandan judge, from roads to land
Controversy follows this Ugandan judge, from roads to land

Justice Catherine Bamugemereire of Uganda’s Court of Appeal has something of a name for being a tireless fighter against corruption. But her commission’s findings against a key figure in a 2015 report into allegations of fraud in the country’s national roads authority has just been set aside by the high court on the grounds of her perceived bias against him, and because his right to be treated fairly was infringed.