Kenneth Ogosia
23 September 2007
Nairobi — Even if one was born a great leader, the road to the top is sometimes long and tortuous, perhaps confirming the old adage that the greater the difficulty, the greater the glory.
But although the struggle of the president-designate of the Commonwealth Law Association, Mr Mohammed Hussein, who attended its 15th conference in Nairobi a week ago, pales in significance before that of former South African president Nelson Mandela, especially on account of his over 20 years' imprisonment on Robben Island, the lawyer in 2009 becomes the first African to hold the post.
At the tender age of 16, Mr Hussein had resolved to fight injustices perpetrated by the apartheid regime in South Africa. He was arrested and detained for his efforts. Fortunately for him though, he did not die in the struggle like many other freedom fighters, and he lived to tell the story and prove that he was up to bigger things.
According to the CLA constitution, he becomes the boss of the 57-country organisation after two years.
In 2009, South Africa will host the Commonwealth lawyers, just a year before it hosts the first World Cup soccer tournament on Afrcan soil.
Hardened by political activism in high school all the way to the University of Durban West Ville, where he studied law, Mr Hussein, now 46, climbed the fame ladder and became a high court judge in the post-apartheid government of President Mandela.
Guided by the biblical verse: "Killing the body is an attempt in vain for the spirit shall live forever," he went on with the struggle for change and constitutional order in his country. "I was arrested and detained at the age of 16 while in high school by the apartheid government, but my spirit remained on course to fight for justice through to the university," he told me in an interview at the conference.
"My degree in law opened the flood gates as I participated in the writing and finalisation of the South African unitary constitution, credited to be among the best in the world."
Kenya made history by hosting the conference, the first by an African country this century, and the second ever to be held on the continent.
Nairobi was a beehive of activity as the Commonwealth's chief justices and other judges, magistrates as well as Queens Counsel and other lawyers jammed Kenyatta International Conference Centre to compare notes on various issues affecting society.
Topics such as the rule of law, human rights, HIV and Aids, environmental degradation, gender equality, crime against humanity, constitution making, corruption and the repatriation of stolen funds kept them busy for a week as Mr Hussein waited to clinch another first for the continent.
His was a tricky situation as the contest had pitted him against a renowned woman lawyer from Nigeria. And going by the world order, gender prominence was more likely to tip the balance. Mr Hussein, a third-generation Indian citizen of South Africa, triumphed against odds based on colour and gender to an exchange of hugs and pleasantries from African brothers and sisters.
He was, however, hard put to explain to the Sunday Nation why he found it necessary to challenge an African woman, and denied betraying women.
As the president of the largest lawyers' organisation in South Africa's northern provinces, he was mandated to contest, he explained.
"I acted on the power of mandate given to me by lawyers in South Africa, and it didn't matter who was to oppose me," he said. "I have served in the CLA council for 10 years and my contributions speak for themselves in the legal fraternity. The gracious lady will have another occasion to clinch this position."
Mr Hussein said he would use the South African experience to build confidence in Africa that good leadership and democracy based on respect for the rule of law is not alien to the continent.
Issues such as war, hunger, poverty, illiteracy, disease and donor dependency, he noted, are such serious impediments to growth in Africa that colleagues from Europe and Asia would be asked to chip in to make the continent a better place to live in.
The Commonwealth heads of government meeting in Kampala next month will be an ideal opportunity to lobby the leaders for a practical search for peace and economic independence in Africa.
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