A reflection on the implementation and impact of the decision of the African Court in Jebra Kambole, Bob Chacha Wangwe & LHRC and Tike Mwambipile & Another : a case study of Tanzania

Abstract

The implementation and impact ofthree African Court judgments against Tanzania - Jebra Kambole v Tanzania, Bob Chacha Wangwe & LHRC v Tanzania and Tike Mwambipile & Equality Now v Tanzania - reveal the full spectrum of compliance outcomes and the power of 'extra-compliance' effects in advancing human rights despite systemic challenges across regional human rights systems. The African Court in Jebra Kambole ordered the amendment ofarticle 41(7) of the Constitution to allow judicial review of presidential elections. However, five years later, Tanzania has neither amended the provision nor submitted the required report, marking clear non-compliance with the Court's decision. Yet, the ruling became a rallying point for constitutional-reform campaigns and inspired three new election-related cases before the Court. The decision in Bob Chacha Wangwe found the former electoral law lacking independence safeguards. The 2024 electoral reforms that directly responded to the order of the Court introduced statutory qualifications and impartiality requirements for election officials, achieving partial compliance, though partisan returning officers remain a lingering concern and a focus of continued advocacy. Tike Mwambipile was declared inadmissible on res judicata grounds, yet the mere filing of the case - combined with parallel regional litigation - triggered swift policy reversal. Within months following the declaration of the judgments, Tanzania ended the decades-long ban on pregnant schoolgirls, issuing re-entry guidelines that directly benefited thousands of girls. These cases demonstrate that compliance enhances the Court's legitimacy. Nonetheless, significant human rights gains can still emerge through indirect channels such as intensified public debate, accelerated legislative and policy change, civil society mobilisation and normative influence on future litigation. Embracing these broader 'extra-compliance' effects provides a more realistic and hopeful measure of the African Court's contribution to domestic human rights protection than formal compliance rates alone.