Arusha, 7 December, 2015: Moi University of Kenya beat 11 finalists to win the pilot African Governance Architecture.
Moot Court Competition hosted by the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (AfCHPR) held from 30 November to 3 December 2015, in Arusha, Tanzania. Moi University scored 89.2% from two final rounds to emerge at the top. University of Zambia finished closely second with a score of 89.1% followed by Makerere University of Uganda with a score 88.5%, according to the results announced by the independent Jury.
Chitalu Yalobi of University of Zambia finished as the Best Oralist with 96.3% followed by Stephen Otieno Adier of Moi University with 91.1% and Donald Maasa of Makerere University with 90.1 %.
The President of AfCHPR, Justice Augustino Ramadhani, said all the 12 finalists demonstrated eloquence, conviction and passion for the African Human Rights system.
‘’On the basis of your performance and spirited engagement, we can firmly state that the future of Africa is very bright,’’ said Justice Duncan Tambala in a speech read on behalf of the African Court President, adding that the Court would continue to engage law students and African Universities with the view to promoting human rights and related issues on the continent.
He invited African Universities to participate in the Continental Moot Court Competition to be held on 21 October in Banjul, The Gambia, as part of the African Union’s celebration of 2016 as the Year of Human Rights with a Special Emphasis on the Rights of Women.
The finalists for this year were: L’ Universite Catholique d’Afrique Centrale (Cameroon); Makerere University (Uganda), Moi University (Kenya);
University of Pretoria (South Africa), University of Zambia (Zambia); Centre d ’etude et de recherche (Burkina Faso) and University of Ibadan (Nigeria).
Others were: University of Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe); University of Nigeria, Nsukka (Nigeria); St Augustine University (Tanzania); Law Development Center (Uganda) and Haramaya University (Ethiopia).
Each team was represented by two students and assisted by a team coach.
The Moot Court Competition was jointly organized by the African Court on Human Peoples’ Rights, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and the African Governance Architecture and funded by the German International Development Agency (GIZ).
NOTES FOR EDITORS:
The objectives of the Moot Court Competition were:
• To educate future leaders on the African Human Rights System and African Governance Architecture;
• To create links and support networks between African institutions of higher learning interested in African Union studies;
• To improve the understanding and appreciation of the workings of the African Union.
