MIDLANDS STATE UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF LAW

NAME : LANGTON SEMU

REG NO: R184414Y

MODULE: HUMAN RIGTHS LAW (LB 306)

LECTURER: MR V. MUTATU

LEVEL: 3:1

Assignment Question; Discuss the Africanness of the African Charter on Human

and People’s Rights (30)
Introduction

The writer perceives that a discussion on the subject of Africanness in the African
Charter on Human and People’s Rights implies an analytical study of the Charter on
how it culturalise, traditionalize, socialize, mobilize and mould the subject of human
rights in an African way. Therefore, the writer is called upon to first define the element
‘Africanness’. ‘Africanness’, refers to the state or quality of being African. 1 The word
Africanness is closely related to ‘Africanise’, which is defined as to modify a scenario to
suit, loosely, a black or other person of African ancestry. 2 In the same vein, it is
interesting to understand what really is the African Charter on Human and People’s
Rights3 (also known as the Banjul Charter), is a regional human rights instrument that is
intended to promote and protect human rights and basic freedoms in
the African continent.4 Aftermath, the writer will stigmatize the discussion on illuminating
and splitting two pronged standards on the subject of human rights, that is the
westernization and Africanisation of the Charter. In that way, the African Charter on
Human and People’s Rights embrace African ideologies of culture, tradition, religion and
other African social backgrounding in the adopted human rights within the political,
economic and social African arena. Whence, the Charter galvanize the binding effect of
Africanness to its provisions, accordingly, the Charter necessarily bind and obligate
such pursuant to all ratifying African states. As this cannot be enough, more elaboration
to be explored as the discussion unfolds in detail.

Body

Bibliography

International Instruments

African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR)

3
African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR)
4