By Chisomo Phiri
Former Attorney General (AG) Thabo Chakaka-Nyirenda says Africa’s most pressing human-rights challenge remains the persistent failure of many nations to enforce judgments issued by regional courts.
He made the remarks on Thursday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he delivered a keynote address at the 30th East Africa Law Society Annual Conference and General Meeting.
Describing the situation as the continent’s ‘unfinished work’ the former AG told delegates that although Africa has developed an impressive human-rights architecture, its effectiveness collapses when domestic systems refuse or delay to implement binding rulings.
Chakaka-Nyirenda stressed that a judgment without enforcement is ultimately meaningless.
He called for a continent-wide convention on the recognition and execution of human-rights judgments to promote uniformity, certainty, and credibility.
“When these judgments are not enforced domestically, a right declared becomes a right denied; compensation ordered becomes compensation withheld; and justice pronounced becomes justice delayed. The gap between judgment and justice is our continent’s unfinished work,” he said.
Arguing that true sovereignty is expressed not by evading obligations but by fulfilling them, Chakaka-Nyirenda underscored that enforcement is essential for deterrence, accountability, and upholding the rule of law.
He further emphasised that rulings from the African Court, the East African Court of Justice, and other regional tribunals must become directly enforceable at the national level because justice that cannot be implemented remains justice denied.
