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14 December 2022 | Story Lacea Loader | Photo Supplied
Prof Serges Kamga
Prof Serges Kamga, newly appointed Dean: Faculty of Law.

The Council of the University of the Free State (UFS) approved the appointment of Prof Serges Kamga as Dean of the Faculty of Law for a five-year term during its quarterly meeting on 25 November 2022. 

Prof Kamga is a full Professor of Law currently working at the Thabo Mbeki African School of Public and International Affairs (TMS) at the University of South Africa (UNISA).

“Prof Kamga’s excellent research reputation nationally and internationally, his extensive networks and partnerships will contribute to further raising the profile of the Faculty of Law nationally, on the continent and globally.  As an established NRF-rated researcher, he will also be able to enhance the research output of the faculty,” says Prof Francis Petersen, UFS Rector and Vice-Chancellor. 

“Prof Kamga will lead and manage the Faculty of Law in support of the UFS’ Vision 130 and the ultimate intent for the coming years to be a research-led, student-centred, and regionally engaged university that contributes to development and social justice through the production of globally competitive graduates and knowledge, and that impactfully supports societal development,” says Prof Petersen.  

Prof Kamga is co-director of the Cross-Cultural Human Rights Centre at the Free University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. At times, he has acted as head of the Thabo Mbeki African Leadership Institute currently Thabo Mbeki School at UNISA and has had engagements at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Young African Leaders Initiative, and as managing consultant at African Legal Sources at the University of Pretoria. In 2021, he received the prestigious Ali Mazrui Award for Scholarship and Research Excellence from the University of Texas at Austin in the USA.

He holds an LLD degree in Human Rights Law from the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria. Prof Kamga has also worked as a researcher at the South African Institute for Advanced Constitutional, Public, Human Rights and International Law (SAIFAC). As a researcher, he has published in accredited journals and presented papers at various national and international conferences. 

“Prof Kamga’s experience in these positions, as well as his extensive knowledge and understanding of the South African and global law fraternity, places him in good standing to lead the faculty to become a formidable and impactful force nationally, on the continent, and abroad. He will also lead the faculty to exploit opportunities and deal with the challenges that the rapidly changing higher-education environment has to deal with,” says Prof Petersen.

Prof Kamga will assume duty on 1 February 2023.

News Archive

Counterfeit HIV / AIDS drugs must be dealt with
2006-02-16

Some of the guests attending the lecture were from the left Prof Johan Henning (Dean:  UFS Faculty of Law), Dr Jayasuriya, Prof Voet du Plessis (Head: UFS Department of Mercantile Law) and Dr Ezekiel Moraka (Vice-Rector:  Student Affairs at the UFS).
Photo: Stephen Collett

Counterfeit HIV / AIDS drugs must be dealt with

An international legal expert who has worked with various UN agencies has called on governments to deal quickly and decisively with people dealing in counterfeit HIV / AIDS drugs.

The Vice-President of the Global Jurists Foundation and former head of the UNAIDS secretariat in Pakistan, Dr Dayanath Jayasuriya, was speaking at the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein.

Delivering a guest lecture on HIV/ AIDS and human rights in developing countries, Dr Jayasuriya said counterfeit drugs were spreading at an alarming rate throughout the world.  He said that in particular counterfeit HIV / AIDS drugs contribute to the vulnerability of persons living with HIV / AIDS.

“Only a few countries have integrated anti-counterfeit drug provisions into national legislation on medicinal drugs” he said.
According to Dr Jayasuriya, the violation of the rights of people living with HIV / AIDS is continuing despite the fact that many governments have adopted various charters and declarations that are meant to guarantee the human rights of citizens.

He said these violations have included the brutal murder of persons with HIV / AIDS.

Other violations include verbal abuse and physical injuries through acts of torture; deprivation or denial of access to employment; medical facilities, including drugs; accommodation; food; social service benefits; insurance; custody of children, and so on.

“In recorded human history HIV / AIDS is by no means the first ever major public health epidemic to confront human kind. However, none of the other epidemics generated the same degree and intensity of human rights concerns,” Dr Jayasuriya said.

 

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