DESCRIPTION

On 5 March 2025, a Civil Society Dialogue on Judicial Communication brought together legal experts and civil society actors for a rare, direct engagement with Justice Boissie Henry Mbha, Chairperson of the Africa Electoral Justice Network. Drawing on decades of experience resolving high-stakes electoral disputes across Africa, Justice Mbha offered a clear lens into the judiciary’s role in safeguarding democracy. He described the courts as a “bulwark for democracy,” tasked with protecting constitutional order and upholding the will of the people. Electoral integrity, he stressed, is not just the judiciary’s burden alone. It begins long before any petition is filed. When electoral bodies act transparently and professionally, public trust grows, and the need for court intervention diminishes. As elections become more technology-driven, the demands on the judiciary are also shifting. Judges must now grapple with complex technical evidence, from digital result systems to biometric data, requiring both legal and technological awareness. Yet, beyond systems and safeguards, Justice Mbha returned to a simpler truth, strong institutions matter, but democracy ultimately rests on a shared commitment to the rule of law.