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13 May 2021 | Story Dr Bright Nkrumah | Photo Supplied
Dr Bright Nkrumah, Free State Centre for Human Rights, University of the Free State (UFS)

The year 2021 marks the 58th anniversary of the establishment of the Organisation of African Union (OAU) on 25 May 1963. The month of May is therefore celebrated annually as Africa Month. This piece, in essence, is a craving to respond to an often-articulated question: is Africa Month a moment of celebration or introspection? The former would have been preferred had the various freedoms offered by the organisation been more realistic and dealt with the concrete challenges bedevilling the continent’s population. 

At the onset, it ought to be acknowledged that the organisation was not forged with the intent of improving the living conditions of its population but to safeguard the recently won independence and sovereignty of its member states. Against this backdrop, the notion of non-interference in the domestic affairs (Uti Possidetis Juris) of states became its guiding principle, thereby fostering a culture of silence on abuses perpetuate by African rulers against their citizens.  Having said that there were notable illustrations of leaders such as Julius Nyerere, Kenneth Kaunda, and Samora Machel, who individually and collectively ‘invoked the notion of humanitarian intervention’ and waged crusades to relieve Ugandans from the jaws of Idi Amin. 

Indeed, one of the significant achievements of the OAU during this era was the adoption of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Charter) in 1981. The instrument may be seen as a trumpeting of freedom, as it considers the rights and wellbeing of Africans sacrosanct and uncompromising. It is important and perhaps enthralling that all African states are parties to the Charter. While the large-scale ratification could enhance its moral force, it could also be used as a red herring to cover up various atrocities in hostile countries.

Where are we?

In 2002, African rulers meeting in Durban, South Africa, adopted the Constitutive Act, transforming the OAU into the African Union (AU). The new Act perhaps seems to be breathing fresh air into Africa’s rights struggle. In stark contrast to its forerunner, the Constitutive Act authorises the AU to intervene in a situation where citizens are threatened by grave danger perpetrated by their governments or external forces. Remarkably, article 3(k) calls for raising the ‘living standards of African people’. Going by these aspirations, one might speculate that Africans are in for a cheery and jolly ride.

Remarkably, while the Act addresses several aspects of the continent’s socioeconomic issues its operationalisation remains the captive of competing for national interests of AU states. Four key setbacks merit consideration here.

Instability: The landscape of Africa is punctuated by rulers’ embezzlement of public funds, ethnic privilege, and siphoning resources to one’s home village to the detriment of others. This bias tends to incite discontent and hostilities, even as one of the popular rhetoric of the infamous Boko Haram is to addressing Nigeria’s North-South resource disparity. By the same reckoning, hundreds of women and children have been displaced or killed from avoidable hostilities in geographical enclaves such as Cameroon, DR Congo, Mozambique, and Sudan.

Injustice: State security agencies and specifically the police force have evolved to be intimidators rather than the protective machinery they ought to be. More disturbingly, access to justice seems to be a pipe dream, as legal fees and prolonged trials make it burdensome for victims to seek remedies. As a common practice, many judicial systems across Anglophone, Francophone, and Lusophone countries are still modelled on ancient colonial systems, with lawyers and judges using convoluted legal jargon which frustrates rather than assists victims of abuse. 

Poverty: 40% of the continent’s population lives in extreme poverty or on <$1 (approx. R14) per day. Indeed, this figure is sobering. A reader might agree that the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad) may be seen as the primary document for reversing this trend. The document has, however, been criticised as given superficial treatment to the basic entitlement of vulnerable groups, and without feasible strategies on issues of underdevelopment.  It speaks to enhancing greater access to services, but segregates this aspiration from how the impoverished could access these essentials. Without a commitment to enforceable socioeconomic goods, such as health care, education, food, social security, the document may be seen as placing a stamp on the skewed access to resources already pervasive in local communities.

Covid-19: The onset of the pandemic calls for total marshalling of the continent’s fiscal and human resources. Sadly, the virus has claimed the lives of eminent cadres, teachers, and trade unionists who could have played a key role in this regard. South Africa alone has recorded more than 54,620 deaths, leaving behind hundreds of orphans.   Still, the ramifications are likely to be more significant, altering the structures of society and putting a strain on the financial resources of weak states. 

What ought to be done?

One golden thread running through these challenges is the weakness of the AU to forge effective institutions to restrain the excesses of states, monitor the government’s compliance with human rights obligations, and accountability. If the organisation seeks to improve human rights in Africa, it ought to revive debates towards Pan-Africanism and regional integration. At present, artificial borders erected by colonisers have created states which are simply not viable economic and political units. To this end, continental integration is the effective means of accelerating economic growth, uplifting the least developed countries, and domestically-based transformative development.

Opinion article by Dr Bright Nkrumah, Free State Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of the Free State.

 


News Archive

Master’s student awarded Mandela Rhodes scholarship
2015-11-25

 

Candice Thikeson’s name will be added to the Mandela Rhodes Scholars book
Photo: Valentino Ndaba

Candice Thikeson was recently selected as the only 2016 Mandela Rhodes Scholar from the University of the Free State. She is one of 50 young African postgraduate students, eager to contribute positively to the educational development of the continent.

The Mandela Rhodes scholarship is a fully-funded postgraduate scholarship awarded to promising future leaders by the Mandela Rhodes Foundation. It is named after the former president of our country, Nelson Mandela, and Cecil Rhodes, who was known for his business skills and political influence in South Africa. Instituted in 1999, the scholarship aims to advance scholars who demonstrate the principles of Leadership and Reconciliation embodied by Mandela and Rhodes’s legacy, as they relate specifically to Education and Entrepreneurship.

Thikeson expects the programme will educate her on how to integrate the four pillars in relation to her field of study.

For Thikeson, earning the scholarship served as an endorsement of her dream of becoming an academic. “I want to obtain a PhD, lecture at a university, publish papers, and speak at conferences,” she related. “I also want to produce academics, I want to mentor young people,” she added.

Her academic journey began in 2011 when she pursued a BA Fine Arts degree for a year. Thikeson then transferred to a BA General degree which she completed over two instead of the standard three years. She went on to study an Honours degree in Art History and Visual Culture Studies. In the same year, she travelled to Rijksuniversiteit Groningen (University of Groningen) in the Netherlands as part of an exchange agreement between the university and the UFS, where she completed her mini-dissertation in four months. Both her BA and Honours were passed with distinction. Currently, Thikeson is pursuing a Masters degree at the Department of Art History and Image Studies under the supervision of Prof Suzanne Human.

Some accolades to her name include the Jan Teurlinckx Prize for the best student in Art History (2011), the David Jacobs Prize, awarded to the best student in Philosophy (2013), and the Richard Miles Prize, presented by the Dean of the Faculty of the Humanities (2013). Thikeson was also selected as a member of the Golden Key Honour society in 2012, for her consistent academic excellence.

Last year, Lehlohonolo Mofokeng, Zola Valashiya, and Tumelo Morobane made the UFS proud by graduating as the class of 2015 Mandela Rhodes Scholars.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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