BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)—Mzuzu based human rights activist, Charles Kajoloweka, who is also Executive Director of Youth And Society (YAS) can now afford a smile following a suspension of the Supreme Court of Appeal’s decision ordering him to personally pay costs in the Maize-Gate Corruption case.
The Supreme Court of Appeal had ordered Kajoloweka to pay K21 million as costs for a case in which he sued President Peter Mutharika to fire his then Cabinet minister George Chaponda in connection with a controversial 2017 maize import deal.
But Maravi Post has established that the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) has suspended the enforcement of the decision of the Supreme Court of Malawi following an appeal by Kajoloweka and subsequent inter-party hearing at the continental court.
Kajoloweka confirmed of the latest development to Maravi Post on Friday afternoon.
“Yes it’s true. The Supreme Court decision has been suspended,” said Kajoloweka.
The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) is a continental court established by African countries to ensure protection of human and peoples’ rights in Africa. It complements and reinforces the functions of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
The Court was established by virtue of Article 1 of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the Protocol), which was adopted by Member States of the then Organization of African Unity (OAU) in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, in June 1998.
The Protocol came into force on 25 January 2004 after it was ratified by more than 15 countries.
The Court has jurisdiction over all cases and disputes submitted to it concerning the interpretation and application of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the Protocol and any other relevant human rights instrument ratified by the States concerned.
The Court is composed of eleven Judges, nationals of member states of the African Union. The first Judges of the Court were elected in January 2006, in Khartoum, Sudan. They were sworn in before the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union on 2 July 2006, in Banjul, the Gambia.
The Judges of the Court are elected, after nomination by their respective states, in their individual capacities from among African jurists of proven integrity and of recognized practical, judicial or academic competence and experience in the field of human rights.
