The Community Court of Justice, ECOWAS, formally ushered in a new judicial dispensation on Tuesday with the swearing-in of five judges appointed to serve the regional court for a four-year, non-renewable term.
At the ceremony held at the ECOWAS Commission in Abuja, H.E. Bassirou Diomaye Faye, President of the Republic of Senegal and Chairman of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS, administered the oath of office to the new members of the Court.
LegalLinkz was on ground at the ceremony, witnessing a transition that brings together jurists from five West African countries at a particularly consequential period for regional justice, human rights protection and integration.
The newly sworn-in judges are Justice Désiré Henri Aihou of Benin; Justice Awa Bah of The Gambia; Justice Charlyne M. Brumskine of Liberia; Justice Henrietta Uzoamaka Didigu of Nigeria; and Justice Yaouza Ouro-Sama of Togo. ECOWAS Court PR – Swearing-In C…
They were sworn in in the presence of senior ECOWAS officials, judicial officers, legal practitioners and other dignitaries, including H.E. General Birame Diop, President of the ECOWAS Commission.
Their assumption of office follows their appointment by the Authority of Heads of State and Government at its 69th Ordinary Session, held in Lungi, Sierra Leone, on July 19, 2026. Each judge will serve a four-year term that cannot be renewed. ECOWAS Court PR – Swearing-In C…
The appointments were made pursuant to the December 2025 Supplementary Act relating to the Community Court of Justice, which provides for a five-member Court composed of independent judges of high moral character and substantial professional competence.
Under the framework, appointees must possess qualifications required for appointment to the Supreme Court or an equivalent court in their respective jurisdictions, or be recognised legal advisers with expertise in international law, particularly Community or regional integration law. Candidates must also have accumulated at least 20 years of professional experience. ECOWAS Court PR – Swearing-In C…
Tuesday’s oath-taking was more than ceremonial. Under Article 5 of the Supplementary Act governing the Court, every judge must take the oath of office or make a solemn declaration before the Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority before assuming judicial functions. ECOWAS Court PR – Swearing-In C…
The new judges succeed Justice Ricardo Cláudio Monteiro Gonçalves of Cape Verde, Justice Sengu Mohamed Koroma of Sierra Leone, Justice Dupe Atoki of Nigeria, Justice Gberi-Bè Ouattara of Côte d’Ivoire and Justice Edward Amoako Asante of Ghana, whose four-year tenures have come to an end. ECOWAS Court PR – Swearing-In C…
The change is significant for one of West Africa’s most consequential judicial institutions.
The Community Court of Justice serves as the principal judicial organ of ECOWAS, with responsibility for interpreting and applying Community law, resolving disputes within its jurisdiction and adjudicating allegations of human rights violations across Member States. Its decisions have increasingly placed it at the centre of major conversations around state accountability, democratic governance, fundamental rights and the effectiveness of regional justice. ECOWAS Court PR – Swearing-In C…
For Nigeria, the inauguration of Justice Henrietta Uzoamaka Didigu ensures continued Nigerian representation on the five-member Bench following the conclusion of Justice Dupe Atoki’s tenure.
The composition of the new Court also gives the Bench a distinctly cross-regional character, drawing its judges from Anglophone and Francophone Member States at a time when the Community continues to confront complex questions around integration, governance and enforcement of regional legal obligations.
The next major institutional step will come from within the Court itself.
Following their assumption of duty, the five judges are expected to elect a President and Vice-President of the Community Court of Justice from among themselves, with both officers serving two-year terms. ECOWAS Court PR – Swearing-In C…
That election will establish the leadership that will steer the Court through the first half of the new judicial term.
For the institution, Tuesday’s ceremony represents continuity, but also renewal.
Five judicial tenures have ended. Five new judges have now taken the oath.
From Abuja, their work will extend far beyond the walls of the ECOWAS Court. The decisions they render over the next four years will potentially affect governments, institutions and millions of citizens across West Africa — and contribute to defining how far regional law can protect rights, constrain power and strengthen integration in an increasingly complex Community.
LegalLinkz will continue to follow the new Bench as it elects its leadership and begins the next chapter in the jurisprudence of the Community Court of Justice, ECOWAS.
Photo Caption
L-R: Justices Yaouza Ouro-Sama, Awa Bah and Désiré Henri Aihou; H.E. Bassirou Diomaye Faye, President of Senegal and Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority; H.E. General Birame Diop, President of the ECOWAS Commission; Justices Charlyne M. Brumskine and Henrietta Uzoamaka Didigu, following the swearing-in of the new judges of the Community Court of Justice, ECOWAS, in Abuja on October 6, 2026.
