African court dismisses Woyome’s case against state

Tanzania-based African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights on Friday dismissed a suit filed against the state by embattled businessman, Alfred Agbesi Woyome. The 11-member panel decision on Mr. Woyome was unanimous. The court held that the applicant’s right to non-discrimination, his right to equality before the law, and equal protection of the law guaranteed under Article 2 and 3 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights was not violated by the state. Mr Woyome applied to the Continental court arguing that his human rights were being trampled upon by Ghana in relation to the case in which he sued Ghana for abrogating a financial engineering services contract and was paid GHC51.2million. The court also noted that Mr. Woyome failed to establish why he should be compensated by the respondent, noting that since the issue doesn’t arise, “the applicant’s prayers for reparations is dismissed”. The court did not however award any cost against Woyome. Read also: Woyome fails again at Supreme Court The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the Court) is a continental court established by African countries to ensure the protection of human and peoples’ rights in Africa. It complements and reinforces the functions of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. Claims by the state that the Protocol has not been domesticated was rejected by the court. “The Court unanimously held that it had material jurisdiction over the case because: “Article 3 of the Protocol requires only ratification and not domestication for the Court to have jurisdiction. Consequently, whether or not the Respondent State has domesticated the Protocol, is immaterial as it remains bound by the provisions of the Protocol which it voluntarily ratified.” Read summary of the judgement here Source: 3news.com]]>