Africa’s judicial politics heats up

It’s been a busy week in judicial politics around the continent. In Zambia, three top judges have been suspended, a move that appears to be related to their 2016 election-outcome decision in favour of the country’s former President, Edgar Lungu. That decision went against Lungu’s successor, President Hakainde Hichilema, the man who has now suspended the judges. The suspensions come just days before they were to have heard a case that could pave the way for Lungu to return to politics and stand for election again in 2026. In Kenya, meanwhile, a High Court judge declared the contempt sentence he passed on the then police chief, purged, after the police boss appeared in court and apologised. And in Uganda, relations between the political and judicial establishment on the one hand and the organised legal profession on the other, could be in for a roller-coaster ride, with the election of the Uganda Law society’s firebrand new president. Carmel Rickard reports on the latest developments in her A Matter of Justice column on the Legalbrief site.

A Matter of Justice

Kenya judgment

Zambia judgment