OAU IFE Alumna Appointed ICC Chief Prosecutor

OAU Alumna Appointed ICC Chief Prosecutor
n alumna of the Obafemi Awolowo
University, Ile-Ife, Fatou Bom
Bensouda, has been appointed
Chief Prosecutor at the International
Criminal Court (ICC), The Hague,
Netherlands. Her mission is to prosecute
those responsible for the most serious of
crimes, like genocide, war crimes and
crimes against humanity, when domestic
courts and prosecutors fail. Public Relations
Officer of the University, Abiodun
Olarewaju, said, in a release, that Bensouda,
51, graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in
Law from OAU in 1986 and attended the
Nigerian Law School. She also holds a
Masters degree in International Maritime
Law and the Law of the Sea.
The newly-appointed Chief Prosecutor was
the first International Maritime Law expert of The Gambia, who once served as the Attorney-
General and Minister of Justice in The Gambia, her home country. She had served as the
Deputy Chief Prosecutor at ICC from 8th September, 2004 until her appointment as the Chief
Prosecutor this year. At various times, she was the Senior Legal Adviser at the International
Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and also the first African woman to assume the top job at an
International Tribunal. In 2009, she received the International Jurists Award for her
contributions to national and international criminal law.
Bensouda took part in negotiations on the treaty of the Economic Community of West
African States (ECOWAS), the West African Parliament and the ECOWAS Tribunal. She
worked as a Delegate at the United Nations Conferences on Crime Prevention, the
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Late Mrs. Juliana Nnenna Uche
Former Registrar, Rhema University
Organisation of African Unity’s Ministerial Meetings on Human Rights, amongst others. She
honoured her alma mater, Obafemi Awolowo University recently, by flying down directly
from The Hague to attend the Inauguration of the Gambia Branch of Great Ife Alumni
Association of her homeland, The Gambia, where she was decorated with the Distinguished
Alumna Award by the Great Ife Alumni Association, with the Vice-Chancellor, Professor
Bamitale Omole, in attendance.
Responding, she said that the rigorous training and all-round academic orientation at the
University prepared her sufficiently to cope with life’s daily challenges. She assured
everyone that the whole world should look forward to a new, fair and more improved ICC
under her watch. Earlier in the year, she was named among the 100 most influential people in
the World by Time Magazine.