In the beginning, it was a court without a courtroom, it was a court without cases and in 2003.., it was the court that did not have a single judgment to its name. But as I am bowing out, I can proudly say that the ECOWAS Court of Justice has recorded 132 Rulings and 342 Judgments. Mr. Tony Anene-Maidoh
It is indeed the end of an epoch in the life of the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice, as Mr. Tony Anene-Maidoh, exits the stage as the Chief Registrar of the Court, after a meritorious service of over Twenty years to the ECOWAS Court, in particular, and our sub-region as a whole. Centre for Community Law (CfCOMLAW) doubt there is anyone who is familiar with Tony’s work in the Registry of the Court and in other engagements of the Court, especially the annual international conference organised by the Court, who would not notice Tony’s absolute dedication to the Court and the advancement of its functions as the Court of Justice of our sub-regional. His engagement with relevant stakeholders, especially the academia, was superb and very fulfilling; the CfCOMLAW is aware of the speed with which research materials were obtained from the Registry of the Court on all the occasions that its members reached out to Tony. Both at conferences and in private
conversations, Tony was always prepared and able to academically engage in the discussion of the guiding principles of the Court as applied in decided cases. Beyond the judgments of the Court, Tony’s insatiable appetite for learning explains why he hardly missed any brilliant piece of academic work on the activities of the Court or its jurisdictional areas. For every such academic work, he would do all within his powers to invite the author to speak and enrich discussion at the Court’s annual international conference. At no other time than the time Tony served, as Chief Registrar, would the Court be in need of someone with Tony’s wealth of experience and knowledge about the Court, to serve as its institutional memory than, when the Authority of Heads of State and Government took the curious and unprofitable decision, not only to reduce the number of judges, but to roll out all serving judges at the same time with a non-renewable reduced tenure, and the inescapable consequence of all the judges of the Court being new to the Court at the beginning of a new tenure. Tony and his team were able to stabilise the court by bridging the knowledge and operational gap that would have occurred when new Judges begin their tenure had the Court lacked a well-organised Registry. Having served several Presidents of the Court, from the very first ever President of the Court: Hon. Justice H.N Doni (2001-2007); through the tenures of Hon Justice Amina Malie Sanogo; Justice Awa Nana Daboya; Hon Justice Maria Do Ceu Silva; Hon. Justice Jerome Traore; Hon Justice Hameye Foune Mahalmadane; to the current President, Hon. Justice Edward Amoako Asante, Tony, no doubt, contributed greatly to the growth of the Court. From the restricted jurisdiction of the Court under the 1991 Protocol, represented by Afolabi Oladjide v Nigeria of April, 2004, through the 2005 Supplementary Protocol that gave human rights teething to the Court, until the present day that the Court has amassed so much jurisdiction with loads of cases in its docket and researchers keeping a keen eye on it, Tony saw it all. Fundamentally Tony did not just see it, he contributed immensely to the successes recorded at every stage of the Court’s development. His unmistakable passion for the Court and his insatiable appetite for integration through law can never be mistaken whenever he is engaged in a discussion about the role of the
Court in the integration of our sub-region. As CfCOMLAW celebrates Tony Anene-Maidoh and wishes him the best in all his
future endeavours, it will be out of place not to welcome his successor, Mr OuroSama. CfCOMLAW cannot but join the President of the Court to express the optimism that “… the good work that the out-going Chief Registrar started will be continued and improved …”. CfCOMLAW wishes Dr. Yaouza Ouro-Sama, the best outing and assures him that CfCOMLAW looks forward to working with him! Centre for Community Law
18th October, 2022
