President John Dramani Mahama will leave Accra today, March 1, 2026, for Arusha in Tanzania to attend the opening of the 2026 judicial year of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

A statement signed by the Minister of Government Communications and Spokesperson to the President, Mr Felix Kwakye Ofosu, said the President will be the Special Guest of Honour at the ceremony scheduled for Monday, March 2, 2026.

The statement said the event will also launch activities to mark the court’s 20th anniversary. It added that the invitation marks the first time a sitting President of Ghana has been invited to address the court.

The ceremony will be held on the theme, “20 Years of Service in Protecting Human and Peoples’ Rights in Africa.”

While in Arusha, Mr Mahama will hold talks with the President of Tanzania, Samia Suluhu Hassan.

Mr Mahama is expected back in the country after the programme on Monday. In his absence, the Vice-President will act as President in line with Article 60(8) of the 1992 Constitution.

The African Court was established under a protocol to the Organisation of African Unity Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, adopted in 1998. The protocol came into force in January 2004. The court’s first judges were elected in 2006, and it delivered its first judgment in 2009. It is one of three regional human rights courts in the world, alongside the European Court of Human Rights and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

Out of 34 African Union member states that have ratified the court’s protocol, only eight, including Ghana, have filed declarations allowing individuals and non-governmental organisations to bring cases directly before the court. This means that a Ghanaian citizen, or a civil society organisation with observer status before the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, may institute proceedings against the Ghanaian state directly in Arusha.