The ECOWAS Court has dismissed a suit filed by its Ivorian employee, Ms. Mariame Kone-Toure, seeking to terminate the appointment of her Gambian colleague, Ama Savage.

Kone-Toure had served in an acting capacity from Feb. 2023, as of Head of Administration and Human Resources Division, ECOWAS Court of Justice.

She later applied for the substantive position when it was advertised in May 2023.

However, following the recruitment interview conducted in January 2024, Savage was appointed in October 2024 instead.

In her submission before the court, Kone-Toure had claimed that the selection process violated the principles of fairness and non-discrimination as enshrined in the ECOWAS Staff Regulations.

The applicant had argued that, although she was one of the top candidates, the Management Succession Committee only recommended Savage as the sole candidate for the substantive position.

According to her claims in the suit marked: No. ECW/CCJ/APP/32/24, the process is in contrast to similar recruitments in other ECOWAS institutions, where multiple top candidates are usually recommended.

However, ECOWAS had in its submission before the court through its counsel, argued that Savage was the most qualified candidate for the position.

Delivering judgment, Justice Dupe Atoki, on behalf of a three-member panel of the court presided over by Justice Sengu Koroma, the President of the Court, dismissed all the Ivorian’s claims.

The panel, which also had Justice Gberi-Bè Ouattara as a member, upheld ECOWAS’ submission that Savage was the most qualified candidate for the position.

It declared that Kone-Toure’s claims were unsubstantiated, adding that her non-selection was not in any way a violation of her rights.

The court further held that Savage’s appointment complied with ECOWAS Staff Regulations, and the applicant did not provide evidence of discrimination or procedural irregularity against her colleague’s appointment.

“On the merits, the Court examined allegations of discrimination under Article 4(1) and the principle of equitable geographical distribution under Article 9(2)(f) of the ECOWAS Staff Regulations.

“It found that the applicant failed to provide sufficient, verifiable evidence of differential treatment in similar circumstances.

“The court notes that, while she referenced practices in other institutions, she did not present the names or scores of the candidates allegedly favoured, preventing a meaningful comparative analysis.

“On the claim regarding geographical distribution, the court rules that the principle applies only among equally qualified candidates and does not override the requirement of merit-based selection,” the judgment reads in part.

Earlier, the court ruled on jurisdiction, by affirming its competence to hear the matter under Article 9(1)(f) of the 2005 Amended Protocol.

It also held that the suit was admissible as the applicant had exhausted all available internal remedies by initially appealing in futility to the president of the ECOWAS Commission before approaching the court.(NAN)

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has found that Russia was responsible for the July 17, 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine that killed all 298 people on board.

The council of ICAO voted that Russia failed to uphold its obligations under international air law which requires that States “refrain from resorting to the use of weapons against civil aircraft in flight.

The case was brought by the Netherlands and Australia.

“This represents the first time in ICAO’s history that its Council has made a determination on the merits of a dispute between Member States under the Organization’s dispute settlement mechanism,” the UN agency said.

Flight MH17 was heading from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was shot down over eastern Ukraine amid the armed conflict between pro-Russian rebels and Ukrainian military forces.

All 283 passengers and 15 crew members were killed. They represented some 17 nationalities and included 196 Dutch citizens, 43 Malaysians and 38 Australian citizens or residents.

ICAO is the global aviation body that develops and implements global aviation strategies and technical standards and the council is its governing body.

The UN aviation agency created a special task force on risks to civil aviation arising from conflict zones in the weeks following the crash.

The Netherlands established a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) in August 2014 together with Australia, Malaysia and Belgium, as well as Ukraine.

The JIT determined that flight MH17 was shot down by a missile launched from a Buk TELAR installation that was transported from Russia to a farm field in eastern Ukraine in an area controlled by separatists.

In November 2022, a Dutch court convicted three men – two Russians and a Ukrainian – for murder.  They were tried in absentia and sentenced to life in prison. Another Russian man was acquitted.

That same year, the Netherlands and Australia launched the case with ICAO.

The case centered on allegations that Russia’s conduct in the downing of the aircraft by a surface-to-air missile over eastern Ukraine constituted a breach of the Convention on International Civil Aviation.

War in Ukraine had escalated since the crash following the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022.

More than 13,000 civilians have been killed to date and no fewer than 31,000 injured, according to the UN human rights office, OHCHR. (NAN)

 World Health Organisation (WHO) on Tuesday said malnutrition rates are rising in Gaza and emergency treatments to counter it are running out.

It added that hunger could have a lasting impact on “an entire generation.”

Israel has blockaded supplies into the enclave since early March, when it resumed its devastating military campaign against Hamas, and a global hunger monitor on Monday warned that half a million people there faced starvation.

WHO representative for the Occupied Palestinian Territory Rik Peeperkorn said he had seen children who looked years younger than their age and visited a north Gaza hospital where over 20 per cent of children screened suffered from acute malnutrition.

Peeperkorn told a press briefing by video link from Deir al-Balah that “what we see is an increasing trend in generalised acute malnutrition.

“I’ve seen a child that’s five years old, and you would say it was two-and-a-half.

“Without enough nutritious food, clean water and access to healthcare, an entire generation will be permanently affected.”

He also warned of stunting and impaired cognitive development.

The head of the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency Philippe Lazzarini told the BBC on Tuesday that he thought Israel was denying food and aid to civilians as a weapon of war.

Israel has repeatedly blamed Hamas for causing hunger by stealing aid meant for civilians. Hamas has denied the allegation.

Israel is pressing its own U.S.-backed plan to get aid into Gaza which it said will cut out Hamas and distribute aid directly from what it calls neutral distribution sites.

The WHO criticised it in a statement on Monday as “grossly inadequate” to meet the population’s immediate needs.

Due to the blockade, WHO only has enough stocks to treat 500 children with acute malnutrition, which is only a fraction of what is needed, Peeperkorn said.

He added that 55 children have died of acute malnutrition, citing Gaza Health Ministry figures.

Peeperkorn said he had seen many children in hospitals with illnesses such as gastroenteritis and pneumonia which, due to their reduced immunity linked to hunger, could be fatal.

“You normally don’t die from starvation. You die from the diseases associated to that,” he added. (Reuters/NAN)