On the 29th of May 2024, the Africa Judges and Jurists Forum (AJJF) and the South African Judicial Education Institute (SAJEI) in the capacity as the Secretariat of the Africa Electoral Justice Network (AEJN) and in collaboration with the Southern and Eastern Africa Chief Justices Forum (SEACJF) hosted a webinar where different jurisdictions were comparing their programmes on training of judges in Election Dispute Resolution for electoral justice.
The objectives of the webinar included enhancing Judicial education and building towards developing standardized EDR training curricula for integration into judicial academies and continuing education programmes; promoting comparative learning and facilitating cross-border dialogue on EDR case law, innovations, and challenges among judiciaries and experts in EDR; building institutional capacityby strengthening partnerships between judiciaries, academic institutions, and electoral bodies to sustain EDR education; and fostering public confidencethrough equipping judicial officers to deliver transparent, timely, and rights-based resolutions to electoral disputes.
The panelists for the Webinar were Dr Kgabele Matlosa – Former Director for Political Affairs at the AU & Visiting Professor Centre for African Diplomacy and Leadership University of Johannesburg; Hon. Justice Musinga – Chairperson of the Judicial Committee on Elections and Justice of the Supreme Court of Kenya; MrsPatience Chiradza – Governance and Conflict Prevention Director – African Union; Mr Sangwani Nyimbiri – SEACJF Coordinator and Hon. Justice Adam – Electoral Court of South Africa Judge and Judge of the High Court in South Africa.
The panelists discussed the type of judicial education training that their different jurisdictions embark on and in particular as part of the training of judicial officers to handle electoral disputes and in order to improve on electoral justice.
The webinar noted the increasing importance of EDR in Africa’s elections and what judicial leaders and judicial education institutes need to be aware of. The Kenyan example of steps that the judiciary needed to take in order to improve public confidence in administration of electoral justice was presented by Justice Musinga. The experience of improving transparency and building trust in the election adjudication process was viewed as key to stabilising elections in Kenya following previously disputed outcomes that resulted in extensive politically motivated post-election violence.
Ms Chiradza of the AU emphasized that it was a top priority of the AU to support initiatives that help in improving the capacity of the judiciaries in Africa as final arbiters of electoral disputes to improve electoral justice in Africa and contribute to reduction of disputed election outcomes that drive conflict, instability and unconstitutional changes of government on the continent. She expressed the AU’s desire to find a formal way of working with African judges to improve EDR in Africa..
In his role as the Coordinator of the Southern and Eastern African Chief Justice Forum, Mr Sangwani Nyimbiri stated that he will work with the SEACJF to be more intentional in designing and implementing EDR training interventions to improve electoral justice. He noted the Annual Conference that is coming up in Zambia in September 2025 as a case in point showing the intent to cooperate with Africa judges by the Chief Justices as heads of African judiciaries.
Judge Adams of South Africa commended the work of SAJEI in offering robustregular training of judicial officers to improve the craft competence of the members of the judiciary.
The AJJF through the Secretary General Mr Martin Masiga organised the inaugural meeting of the electoral justice network in May 2019 in South Africa in collaboration with the South Africa Judicial Education Institute (SAJEI), the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) and the International Federation on Electoral Systems (IFES). AJJF helps organise the platform’s annual meetings and so far has organised AEJN annual conferences in Johannesburg, South Africa in May 2019, Lilongwe, Malawi in July 2022, and Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe January-February 2024. The next annual summit will be in Lusaka Zambia between 9-12 September 2025 to be co-hosted with the Judiciary of Zambia.
For more information on the AEJN please contact our Secretary General Mr. Martin Masiga on okumu-masiga@africajurists.org or our Elections and Rule of Law expert Arnold Tsunga who coordinates the AEJN Secretarial services on tsunga@africajurists.org together with Mampotse Mokgetleof SAJEI on MMokgetle@judiciary.org.za or Justice Mbha who currently chairs the AEJN platform