President John Dramani Mahama has urged member states of the African Union (AU) to deepen their commitment to the Arusha based African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (AfCHPR).

He made the appeal in his remarks at the opening of the 2026 Judicial Year and 20th Anniversary of the AfCHPR in Arusha, Tanzania, President Mahama.

“Now is the time to deepen our commitment to the Court, so that in 20 years, when we celebrate its 40th anniversary, it will stand as the leading international judicial body and a model for others. Now is the time for Africa to step into its greatness,” President Mahama said.

President Mahama called upon the AU member states who had not yet ratified the AfCHPR Protocol to do so without delay.

“To my colleagues in those countries, I assure you that you have nothing to fear from this Court. I humbly ask all African nations and individuals to respect and implement the Court’s judgements in good faith,” he said.

President Mahama encouraged them to also make the declaration to allow individuals and non-government organisations direct access to the Court.

He said, his late father, Mr E.A. Mahama, a Minister under Ghana’s first President, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, went through tribulations following the overthrow of Dr Nkrumah in the military coup d’etat of 24th February 1966.

Along with other ministers of state, Members of Parliament and other government officials, his father was asked to report to the police station “for his own safety”.

“There, he was interrogated, taken into custody, and he remained in detention for over a year. By 1974, just eight years later, Ghana was being led by our former Head of State and third military ruler, Colonel I.K. Acheampong,” President Mahama said.

The President noted that his father’s political tribulations did not end with his detention after he wrote the letter advising the Head of State in the early 1970s.

He said, his father had to live in exile for 13 years after another coup d’état, but many others suffered even greater injustice and abuse of their rights and dignity.

He said many individuals had endured significant hardship throughout their lives.

“My father’s political tribulations did not end with his detention after he wrote the letter advising the Head of State,” he said.

He added: “He had to live in exile for 13 years after another coup d’état. But many others suffered even greater injustice and abuse of their rights and dignity. Many individuals have endured significant hardship throughout their lives.”

The President said the Lumumbas, Mondlane, Sankaras, Cabrals, Prempehs, Yaa Asantewas, Kabalegas, Nujomas, Mandelas and Bikos were all recognised as martyrs of the African revolution.

He said had the African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights existed earlier in the past, these grave instances of human rights abuse and injustice would had been very important cases to adjudicate.

He noted that they would have secured justice against racist apartheid criminals, colonialists and even their own oppressive African dictators who tortured and killed many.

He said all the nations on the African continent were each other’s keepers.

“I truly believe this. I also believe that each of us is a keeper of the dreams and hopes our ancestors could not achieve,” he said.

He added: “We can pave the way for their dreams to be realised, if not by us, then by the generations succeeding us.”

The President said justice systems in Africa had strengthened over the past decades; declaring that, “In Ghana, we are strengthening our judicial systems.

“As I stand and recollect my youth, and my fear for my father through my recurring nightmares, I realise that I can put those fears to rest.”

He said for the past 20 years, they had had a court that could protect the rights and dignity of African people beyond the borders of their individual nations.

“So, allow me to say, while I am here in this historic city of Arusha, a city well known as the site where human rights are affirmed and the dignity of African people is protected, that the time is now,” he said, adding, “now is the time for us to meet the challenge of keeping the promises we have made to future generations—promises we have signed and pledged to uphold.”