Professor Kwadwo Appiagyei-Atua (University of Ghana)

A Critical Review of African Documents on Academic Freedom

The task for the design and development of academic freedom principles in Africa to promote and protect this right has largely fallen on the shoulders of academics, and less by other actors such as the State, universities and students. Records indicate that Somalia was the only African country whose 1960 independence constitution guaranteed the autonomy of universities. And it was only in the post-Cold War return-to-democracy era in Africa which saw the introduction of academic freedom in a number of African constitutions which were adopted in that period. The key documents on academic freedom championed by African academics are the Dar es Salaam Declaration on Academic Freedom and Social Responsibility adopted in 1990 by six Tanzanian academic staff associations. This was followed by the Kampala Declaration on Intellectual Freedom and Social Responsibility which came into being a few months later in the same year before, in 2007, the Juba Declaration on Academic Freedom and University Autonomy also emerged. The Council for the Development of the Social Sciences in Africa (CODESRIA) was heavily involved in organising the conferences in which the Kampala and Juba Declarations came into being. Then in 2025, the Annex to the Kampala Declaration was born. My presentation will analyse the critical role that these documents have played in promoting academic freedom on the continent. At the same time, the presentation will highlight some gaps in these documents, especially with respect to the extent to which they recognise the rights of students in general, female academics and students in particular, the university itself, minority groups, the LGBTQ community, and students with special needs, among others. The presentation will also touch on the emphasis of these documents on responsibility of academics, especially in the Annex to the Kampala Declaration and whether and to what extent that reflects the African reality

Biography: Professor of International Law and Human Rights at the School of Law, University of Ghana, and Regional Director of the Africa Coalition for Academic Freedom. He is also adjunct professor at the University of Pretoria (Centre for Human Rights, LL.M in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa), EUCLID (The Gambia), and the National University of Ireland, Galway. A founding and former Consultant Dean at SDD University for Business and Integrated Development Studies (Ghana), Kwadwo is a member of the Ghana Bar. He has held postdoctoral fellowships at the Irish Centre for Human Rights (NUI) and Lincoln University (UK), researching academic freedom and democracy in Africa. He serves on the boards of the Global Observatory on Academic Freedom (King’s College London), ANCLE, and as Ambassador of the Magna Charta Observatory (University of Bologna). His research focuses on post-colonial international law, human rights, and academic freedom.

Dr Robert Kakuru (Makerere University)

The Hurdles and Realities of Protecting the Right to Academic Freedom in Uganda

Biography:  I am the Chairperson, of Makerere University Academic Staff Association (MUASA), and the Vice Chairperson of the Forum for Academic Staff of Public Universities in Uganda (FASPU) (2024-todate). A former General Secretary of the Forum for Academic Staff of Public Universities in Uganda (FASPU) (2020-2024); former General Secretary of MUASA (2020-2022); and Company Secretary to Network for Education and Multidisciplinary Research Africa (NEMRA) (2019-2024). I am also a lecturer of human rights in the Department of Philosophy, Makerere University; and Director, Governance, Development and Pearce Research Centre, a consulting organization. I have a PhD in Human Rights, with 18 years of experience in lecturing, high profile research and providing consultancy – with 8 years of active engagement in industrial relations. I am the author/ co-author of internationally recognized publications, and 42 consultancy reports.

Professor Klaus Beiter (North-West University)

A Country Fails with 35.5% (an F Grade) – Measuring the Legal Protection of Academic Freedom: The Scorecard for South Africa

The presentation reports on measuring to what extent academic freedom as construed in terms of international human rights law, specifically UNESCO’s Recommendation on the Status of Higher-Education Teaching Personnel of 1997, is protected in South African law. Using 37 human rights-based indicators, it assesses whether South Africa’s legal framework related to higher education and research adequately protects academic freedom and its structural safeguards, such as institutional autonomy, academic self-governance, and employment security, including tenure. With colleagues, I previously applied this scorecard to determine the strength of the protection of academic freedom in the law of European countries. The analysis for South Africa shows that, as in Europe (and most countries of the global North), rather than politically motivated ideological attacks by the state, it is the utilitarian, economistic, and, in this sense, illiberal vision of higher education and research, reflected in law and in practice, that puts academic freedom under pressure in South Africa. As in many European and other countries, market liberalism erodes academic freedom in South Africa; additionally, “transformationism” and the notion that universities should be development-oriented also threaten academic freedom here. This is not an argument against transformation, which is vital in South Africa with its Apartheid past. Transformation is necessary if racism, sexism, and xenophobia in institutions are to be eradicated, academic freedom for all to be realised, and universities to be modernised. However, the new illiberal vision obstructs both academic freedom and transformation. South African universities are increasingly experienced as authoritarian, human rights-free spaces. What is needed is a reassertion of the truth-seeking (and communicating) role of the university and, additionally, a commitment to transformation in the democratically (re)constituted university that preserves it as a lifelong academic institution. Legislative reform needs to underlie such a vision.

Biography: Hailing from Namibia, Prof. Beiter holds South African law degrees and a doctorate in international human rights law from Ludwig Maximilian University Munich, Germany. Admitted as a Legal Practitioner of the High Court of Namibia, he has been a Senior Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Innovation & Competition and held an EU Marie Curie Fellowship at the University of Lincoln (UK), researching academic and scientific freedom. Since 2016, he has been at the Faculty of Law, North-West University, South Africa, where he is now a Research Professor, teaching International Human Rights Law, Intellectual Property Law, Socio-Economic Rights, and International Social Justice. His research focuses on the right to science, academic freedom, the right to education, IP law, and law and development. He serves as an ad hoc consultant to UNESCO and the United Nations Human Rights Council, holds advisory and board roles in the Africa Coalition for Academic Freedom, the Magna Charta Observatory, the Right to Education Initiative, and Child Rights Connect, and is a member of the Namibian government’s Team of International Law Experts and the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf).

Dr Muhidin Shangwe (University of Dar es Salaam)

Between self-censorship and apathy: The challenge of academic freedom in Tanzania

Tanzania today, like many other countries across the world, is grappling with the threat of deteriorating academic freedom. Much of this threat comes from the state, although other actors are also contributing to the problem. Due to fear of persecution, many academics are resorting to self-censorship, whereas many others are simply apathetic. The combination of self-censorship and apathy makes the struggle for academic freedom is even harder as academics at times fail to utilize even the little space available to exercise some degree of freedom.

Biography: I am a lecturer in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at the University of Dar es Salaam, where I teach International Relations. I hold a PhD in International Relations from East China Normal University, with a research focus on Chinese soft power in Africa. My interest in academic freedom began in 2023; since then, I have collaborated with prominent regional and global organizations, including the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA), the Africa Coalition for Academic Freedom (ACAF), and Scholars at Risk (SAR). I am currently preparing a conference proceedings paper regarding the state of academic freedom in Tanzania.

Dr Nelson Casimiro Zavale (Universidade Eduardo Mondlane)

Academic Freedom in Mozambique

Biography: Dr. Zavale is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Education, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane (UEM), Mozambique. With over 17 years of academic experience, including as Senior Researcher in several universities and research centres (e.g., in Germany, Switzerland, and USA), Dr. Zavale has also served in leadership and management roles, including Coordinator of Institutional Reform at UEM, National Director of the UEM Quality Assurance Office, and General Coordinator of the UEM-Sweden Cooperation Program. His research focuses on higher education, science, technology, and innovation studies, particularly on their contribution to socioeconomic development in the Global South and Africa. He has authored several publications featuring in international journals and publishers. His latest book, University Societal Engagement in African Contexts: Benefits, Drivers, and Constraints, was published by Routledge in 2025, and he has also published on academic freedom. In addition to academia, he has 15 years of experience as a consultant and technical expert in education, science, and technology, supporting national ministries, international organizations, and development projects.