Dar es Salaam (Tanzania), Nov. 3, GNA – Judges, Lawyers, Academia, and Media practitioners attending the International Conference on the Implementation and impact of decisions on the African Court deserted the cozy ambiance of the Julius Nyerere International Conference Center for a “Legal Walk for Health”.
The five-kilometer “Legal Walk for Health” at Dar es Salaam, Tanzania forms part of activities to commemorate the African Court’s 15th anniversary.
The troops were marshalled unto the pathway by Former President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, of the United Republic of Tanzania.
The African Court team moved unto the legal walk for heath track led by Lady Justice Imani Daud Aboud, President of the African Court, and other officials to adjudicate in the case whether it was good to undertake the walk or not.
Setting the parameters for the legal walk for health trail, the President of the African Court argued that; “Walking is generally associated with health, fitness, and wellbeing”.
She stressed that it was therefore proper for the body to exercise, which causes blood to circulate; and both the body and brain to reboot and regenerate which is necessary for the proper functioning of the bar and the bench.
Lady Justice Aboud argued further that walking has also been used for advocacy purposes; “it may be argued that advocacy walks serve just the same purpose as fitness and wellbeing walks although the aim is to express or regenerate commitment rather than the body. This explains why walks are, as we all know, associated with leadership”.
Recounting historical judgments to support her argument, she noted that: “from Martin Luther King to Nelson Mandela, walks have become the most emblematic tool for celebration, commitment, advocacy, and in the case of this morning, renewal of commitment to the African Court.
“In this respect, I find it important to pay tribute to an African leader from Tanzania who played a critical role in the operationalisation of the African Court.
“As some of you may be aware, His Excellency Jakaya Kikwete, Former President of Tanzania, played an important part in the functioning of the Court as it was under his leadership that Tanzania offered to host the Court and provide it with the necessary logistical facilities to operate from the city of Arusha”.
The African Court President noted that the former Tanzanian President accomplishment deserves a vibrant tribute and “as Africans we must learn to celebrate great African leaders at the right time, and in the right place.
“Your Excellency President Kikwete, on behalf of the African Court and on my own behalf, I extend to you our appreciation for supporting the human rights justice project manifested through the African Court.
“I equally extend the Court’s appreciation to you for agreeing to join today’s walk to express commitment to the work of the African Court
On the 3rd day of November in the year of our lord 2021 at the end of legal walk for health trail which took over three hours, the African Court President ruled and charged all “to take the pledge they committed to by being part of this 15th anniversary legal walk for health deliberations: the pledge to justice, the rule of law, democracy and freedoms in your respective countries”.
GNA