Legal basis for entrenchment of Human Rights in the constitutions of selected African countries

Abstract

The concept of human rights is not only universal dates back to antiquity. In the present world order, a single human right violation may  spark international outrage. This underscores the sacredness of the fundamental rights of man. The practice of entrenching human  rights of the citizenry in the constitution is now common among African countries. Presumably, this practice rein-enforces the rights,  making them easier to enforce and enjoy. It is incontrovertible that Africa has made a tremendous progress in the global democratization  process within the past decade. Paradoxically, however, human right abuses appear to be on the increase although  these rights have been entrenched in the constitutions. This anomaly compels inquiry, hence this research. In this work, the doctrinal  approach hinged on exposition and comparative analysis was adopted in order to establish whether there is a uniform trend in the  entrenchment of human rights in the various constitutions of selected African countries, having regard to their human rights provisions.  These constitutions are critically analysed to ascertain their human rights content in the context of their justiciability. Also, the case laws  of these countries on human rights are appraised. This research reveals that the constitutions of most countries of Africa are replete with  detailed provisions on human rights but that some also contain ouster clauses, which have made some of the rights non-justiciable. This  work equally discovers that most international human rights instruments and treaties ratified by some African countries have either not  been incorporated in the municipal laws of the countries or that the relevant enforcement mechanisms have been jettisoned, thus  rendering the treaties or instruments worthless for the purpose of human right protection and enforcement among others. The paper  recommends a number of measures which, if adopted and relentlessly pursued, would stem the ugly tide of human rights violation and  generally improve the living condition of the people of Africa.