Former Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo is urging the country to ratify laws concerning older persons.

The protocols on the rights of older persons were adopted in January 2016 by the African Union.

These protocols were drafted for older men and women in Africa who suffer discrimination and abuse in Africa.

Since it was drafted seven years ago, Ghana has yet to ratify its laws concerning older persons in Ghana.

Speaking at the 32^nd Christof Heyns African Human Rights Moot Court Competition she addressed her concerns on the need for the laws concerning older people to be ratified. This is to ensure that the rights of older people are upheld and better protection and support is available for the older population.

“Now there have been many other rights-based continental instruments following the African Charter in that particularising the assurance of the protection and promotion of human rights in Africa such as on the rights of women, on the rights of the child, the youth and there is even one older person which is yet to come into effect. Ghana has not yet ratified and should do so Ghana Bar Association make sure that it gets done,” she said.

She also mentioned that the African court is challenged with the obeisance of African countries to the protocols that are rolled out for them to follow.

“Although under its establishment protocols, the African court has the power to make enforceable decisions as experience has shown over the years since its establishment there is an enforcement gap.

"Obedience to the court decision and orders remains largely dependent on the respondent state's political will and in my experience, there were some countries which would fulfil the terms and judgements of the courts but there were some and still are some who will say; who are you to tell us what to do we are sovereign,” she said.

The Christof Heyns African Human Rights Moot Court Competition is the largest gathering of students, academics and judges around the theme of human rights in Africa.

The annual event brings together all law faculties in Africa, whose top students argue a hypothetical human rights case as if they were before the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

The Competition continuously prepares new generations of lawyers to argue cases of alleged human rights violations before the African Court.

Since its creation in 1992, 170 universities from 47 African countries have taken part in this permanent fixture on the African legal education calendar.

The Moot has been a catalyst for the establishment of the leading programmes in the field of human rights teaching and research in Africa.

In 2022, the 31st edition of the Moot Court Competition was hosted at The British University in Egypt, Cairo. The event brought together 45 teams from 19 African countries.

KNUST is hosting the 2023 Moot Court Competition.