During the 55th Council of Ministers of Ohada in Kinshasa, DRC, on August 29 and 30, 2023, Professor Mayatta Ndiaye Mbaye, previously Director General of Ersuma, was appointed Permanent Secretary of Ohada.
The Organization for the Harmonisation of Business Law in Africa (Ohada) is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. The UIHJ has developed very strong links with this organisation, one of the objectives of which is the legal integration between its 17 member countries.
Ohada includes 5 bodies: the Conference of Heads of State and Government, the Council of Ministers, the Permanent Secretariat, the Common Court of Justice and Arbitration, and the Higher Regional School of Magistracy (Ersuma).
The UIHJ has been very interested in Ohada since 1994, because of its very pragmatic objectives, but also the Uniform Acts that it develops, directly applicable in each member country, in particular the Uniform Act relating to the organization of simplified recovery procedures and enforcement procedures of April 10, 1998, currently under review and which directly impacts the profession of judicial officer.
There is no doubt that the creation of the Ohada in 1993 and the publication of its Uniform Acts constituted a providential development factor for the UIHJ in the member countries and the legal professionals concerned, creating an unwavering bond between all judicial officers of the area, particularly during the numerous training seminars organised locally by the UIHJ since 1999 (nearly 60 to date).
The UIHJ became a technical partner of Ohada following the 44th session of its Council of Ministers in April 2017 in Conakry (Guinea). It has since attended the work sessions of the councils of ministers of Ohada and is closely associated with the process of reforming the Uniform Act on Enforcement.
The UIHJ met Professor Mbaye a few months after his appointment as Director General of Ersuma during a training seminar for judicial officers which took place on July 6 and 7, 2017 in Yaoundé (Cameroon) organised by the UIHJ and the National Chamber of Judicial Officers of Cameroon.
Under the action of Professor Mbaye, relations between the UIHJ and Ersuma were immediately strengthened, leading in May 2018 to the signing of a cooperation agreement between the UIHJ and Ersuma during the 23rd International Congress of Judicial Officers of Bangkok (Thailand), then to his induction in November 2021 as a member of the Scientific Council of the UIHJ during the 24th International Congress of Judicial Officers of Dubai (United Arab Emirates).
The UIJH extends its warmest congratulations to Professor Mayatta Ndiaye Mbaye for the key position of Permanent Secretary of Ohada, which places him at the heart of this prestigious organisation which commands the admiration of all, and wishes him an excellent mandate.
