By Alimatu Jalloh
The Executive and Governing Councils of the African Bar Association (AFBA) will honour Sierra Leone’s Chief Justice, His Lordship Justice Desmond Babatunde Edwards and South Africa President, His Excellency Cyril Ramaphosa, President of the Republic of South Africa.
The Honourable Chief Justice Edwards was unanimously selected at the General Council meeting held in Cairo, Egypt as a recipient of the African Bar Medal of Merit in Leadership and will be awarded along with several serving and past Heads of States and some eminent Africans during this year’s gathering.
During this occasion, Sierra Leone’s Chief Justice Edwards will deliver the keynote address in this year’s annual conference of the Association scheduled for August in Pretoria, Republic of South Africa.
“On behalf of the Executive and Governing Councils of the African Bar Association (AFBA), I have the rare honour and privilege to specially invite your Lordship to deliver the Keynote address of the 2023 Annual Conference of our Association, holding from 6th – 10th August 2023 in Johannesburg, Republic of South Africa,” the invite noted.
The Association further stated in their invite that, “as a foremost Jurist, Seasoned Administrator, Eminent, Scholar, Legal Luminary one with intimidating profile and your excellent work at the helm of affairs of the Sierra Leone Judiciary and across the African Continent, a source of pride to our generation, participants have a lot to gain from your fountain of knowledge and we are in no doubt that you are the most qualified African to dissect this topic with a view to ensuring that the Legal Profession and other Stakeholders make maximum use of the opportunities offered by the AFCTFTA.”
AFBA conference is an opportunity for Judges, Lawyers, Politicians, the business community, and experts from all fields to gather, discuss and think solutions to the myriads of challenges confronting Africa especially good transparent governance, security, and the rule of law.
The conference is co-organized with the University of South Africa (UNISA), founded in 1873 and will be hosted on the theme, “Building the Legal Profession in Africa under the African Continental Free Trade Agreement” and is expected to be declared opened by the President of the Republic of South Africa, His Excellency President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The Conference is expected to be attended by over 1,500 Participants including the Chief Justice of South Africa, Judges, Members of Parliament, the Minister of Justice, the Attorney General and other top Government Leaders, Lawyers, the Academia and Civil Servants among other.
The Conference is expected to cover a variety of areas including AFCFTA, Aviation, Taxation and Finance, Oil and Gas, Military Law and Justice, Climate Change, Anti-Corruption, Artificial Intelligence, Legal Education, Gender Issues, WTO, Global Geopolitics, ADR, Cross Border Trade, the Rule of Law, Access to Justice and Human Rights and International Law among others.
It is the perfect opportunity for everyone involved to acquire knowledge on the African continental free trade agreement and thus exchange on the possibilities of not being limited to operate only in their respective countries but extend their skills to the whole continent without fear of unknown laws and procedures.