A Human Rights Defender's Perspective

                                                  Like many Africans I have reservations with the west prescribing ‘sound solutions’ for African problems, and would therefore in many ways align myself with African scholars who have had enough of meddling by the west in the guise of offering much needed, sensible, practical solutions and elucidations about how to successfully steer countries from histories of autocracy, dictatorship and poor governance to the path of democracy. Indeed, nothing would make me more proud than successful home-grown solutions for the seemingly endless challenges faced by many African countries. As a matter of fact I have no doubt of Africa ’s capability to resolve to address its own challenges as individual states, as regional blocks and as continent (of immense potential) at large. The tract record of African countries and their leaders in trying to address African challenges is wanting which has in many ways justified intervention by the west – and n

As vetting approaches and the potentially high number of judicial officers likely to face the ‘phase 2’ purge… lawyers are falling over each other trying to polish their résumés in the hope of filling up the already empty slots as well as the soon to be vacancies. Hence begs the questions, are these legal practitioners (even with their impressive résumés) going to qualify for these positions? Are they really going to prove that they are persons of integrity? Are we likely to get a fresh deluge of ‘wikileakes’ discrediting their claims as persons of integrity? I have no doubt that many in my profession are persons who conduct their businesses either in private practice, public service or civil society with the highest level of integrity…..but then how many???    As I read the Article is The Standard on confessions of how a lawyer helps pirates ‘clean’ their money….I was left asking my self thought provoking questions as to how many lawyers today would pass the Constitution’s Chapt