participant list - mcmaster university...university, ile- ife, osun state. he is also a doctoral...

Participant List

TRUTH COMMISSIONS AND TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE PROCESSES IN AFRICA 2019

Staff Support Contact Information For assistance throughout the conference, you can contact the following project team members: Adebisi Alade Project Coordinator McMaster University / Confronting Atrocity Mobile: +234 (802) 461 6570 [email protected]; [email protected] Noble Gati Research Assistant / Team Member Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration / Confronting Atrocity Mobile: +233 (024) 499 3223 [email protected] Dr. Jasper Ayelazuno Convener and Co-Investigator University for Development Studies / Confronting Atrocity Mobile: +233(024) 240 4059 [email protected] Dr. Bonny Ibhawoh Convener and Principal Investigator McMaster University / Confronting Atrocity Mobile: +1 (905) 525 9140 Ext. 24153 [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]


Conference Participant List

Name and Email Institutional Affiliation Short Bio Abiodun, Adiat A. [email protected]

Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria

Mr Adiat A. Abiodun holds bachelor and masters degree in Political Science and International Relations respectively from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile- Ife, Osun state. He is also a doctoral student of the same institution. He currently lectures at the Obafemi Awolowo University Centre for Distance Learning in Ile-Ife, Osun State.

Abioro, Tunde (PhD) [email protected]


Tunde Abioro holds a PhD in Political Science from Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria, where he is also a Faculty Member and he lectures in the Department of Local Government Studies. His research interest is in Human Security and Comparative Governance. He has a number of peer reviewed papers and conference proceedings in both local and international journals either singly or in collaboration with colleagues.

Adepoju, Oluwayemisi A. [email protected]

Covenant University, Nigeria

Adepoju Oluwayemisi is currently a Doctoral Candidate at the Department of Political Science and International Relations, Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria. Her research interests are on Gender, Peace and Conflict Resolution and Development Studies. Currently, She is a Lecturer at WOLEX Polytechnic where she teaches Nigerian Government and Politics and Citizenship Education, International Relations, Small Business Management and International Business. She has also done a couple of research work on girl-child education, women participation in peace processes, women participation in local governance etc. in order to project herself as an upcoming Gender scholar and to also create a gender-inclusive awareness in Africa, especially in Nigeria.

Afari, Frank [email protected]

Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Switzerland

Frank Afari is a doctoral candidate in the Department of International History at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (Geneva, Switzerland). Through the lens of Ghana’s National Reconciliation Commission (NRC), a truth commission established in 2002, his ongoing doctoral research seeks to explore the truncations of constitutional governance in Ghana’s post-colonial history and their associated human rights violations as well as transitions to democratization through the pursuit of truth, restorative justice and reconciliation.









Akinyemi, Victoria (PhD) [email protected]


Omolara Akinyemi holds a Ph.D. degree in International Relations from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria and also teaches in this same Department since year 2013. She specializes in Political-Economy, Border and Security issues in West Africa, an area in which she has published articles in reputable journals. Her latest publications include Globalization and Border Security, Border’s in Nigeria Relations with Cameroon; The Politics of Monetary Integration and Trade in ECOWAS and Managing Nigeria’s Security and National Development.

Alade, Adebisi [email protected]

McMaster University, Canada

Adebisi Alade is a Ph.D. candidate and Ontario Trillium Scholar in the Department of History, McMaster University, Canada. His research is at the intersection of environment and health with interest in water and sanitation. He is currently studying colonial sanitation experiences of Africans and the various government interventions from the late nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century in Southwestern Nigeria. Previously, he was a Water Without Borders scholar at the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) where he studied International Public Policy Development. He has a number of peer-reviewed articles, book chapter, and book reviews in reputable journals. Adebisi is the Coordinator of the Confronting Atrocity project, and a member of McMaster Participedia research team.

Albert, Isaac Olawale (PhD) [email protected]

University of Ibadan, Nigeria

Isaac Olawale Albert is a Professor of African History, Peace and Conflict Studies and the pioneer Director of the Institute for Peace and Strategic Studies, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. He was a federal delegate to the 2014 National Conference in Abuja and also served in 2014/2015 as a member of the Presidential Panel for the Review Nigeria’s Defence Policy. He was a Resident Scholar at the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Centre in February/March 2016. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the African Union’s African Journal for the Prevention and Combating of Terrorism.






Aleer, Koat (LL.M) [email protected]

Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, South Africa

Koat Aleer is a Senior Advocacy Officer at the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation. She holds a LLM and LLB from the University of Leeds and a B.A. degree from the University of Toronto. Her areas of specialization include international law, treaty law and human rights law with particular focus on Africa, areas in which she has respectively written on and worked. She has gained a wide array of experience in various capacities at international organizations including the African Prisons Project, International Organization for Migration and the African Union Commission.

Alhassan, Amin (PhD) [email protected]

University for Development Studies, Ghana

Amin Alhassan is an Associate Professor of Communication at the University for Development Studies (UDS), Tamale, Ghana. He worked as a journalist at the Ghana News Agency and the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation before becoming an academic. He completed his PhD in Communication at Concordia University, Montreal, Canada and previously taught at McGill University, Montreal, and at York University, Toronto. He is currently the Principal of the Wa Campus of the UDS. His research interest is in development communication, communication ethics, political communication and radio broadcasting.

Alidu, Seidu (PhD) [email protected]

University of Ghana, Ghana

Dr. Seidu Alidu is currently a Senior Lecturer at the University of Ghana, Department of Political Science. He is a visiting lecturer to twelve MRPP Universities in Africa. He is also a Maria Sibylla Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA) fellow on Parliament and Democracy. He has published widely, and presented conference papers on different specialization areas including conflict resolution, transitional justice and human rights.

Ame, Robert (PhD) [email protected]

Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada

Dr. Robert Ame is Associate Professor of Human Rights and Criminology at Wilfrid Laurier University. His research interests include youth justice, children’s rights, and truth and reconciliation commissions. He is co-editor of two books, Children’s Rights in Ghana: Rhetoric or Reality? (Lexington Books) and Childhoods at the Intersection of the Local and the Global (Palgrave McMillan). His other publications have appeared in several academic journals, technical reports, and as chapters in books.







Appiagyei, Enoch [email protected]

University of Calgary, Canada

Enoch Appiagyei a Doctoral student and Graduate Teaching Assistant at the University of Calgary (Department of Political Science), and specializes in International Law and the Politics of International Security.

Asare, Abena (PhD) [email protected]

Stoney Brooke University, USA

Abena Ampofoa Asare is Associate Professor of Africana Studies and History at Stony Brook University- State University of New York. Her research and writing span questions of human rights, citizenship and transformative justice in Africa and the African diaspora. Her work can be found in The Radical Teacher, The International Journal of Crime, Justice and Social Democracy, African Arguments, and Foreign Policy in Focus, among other places. She is the author of Truth Without Reconciliation: a Human Rights History of Ghana (University of Pennsylvania, 2018) which was a Choice Magazine Outstanding Academic Title in 2018. In 2019 she is Scholar-in-Residence at the New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.

Ayelazuno, Jasper A. (PhD) [email protected]


Dr. Ayelazuno is a Ghanaian public servant and academic with more than 30 years combined experience of public service, teaching, and research. He obtained his PhD in Political Science from York University in Canada, and his MA in Development Studies from Sussex University in England. Before joining the academy, he worked as a police officer in the Ghana Police Service. He also served in the UN peacekeeping missions in Bosnia-Herzegovina as part of the Ghanaian police contingent, and Kosovo as part the UN Volunteer Corps. He worked as Investigator/Statement Taker with the Ghana National Reconciliation in the Upper East and West Regions. His research interests span African politics; agrarian political economy; international political economy; subaltern politics and resistance; elections and democratization, resource wealth and capitalist development in Africa. He is presently a Senior Lecturer and Head of the Department of Communication, Innovation, and Technology, University for Development Studies, Nyankpala Campus, Ghana.





Bamidele, Seun [email protected]

Chrisland University, Nigeria

Seun Bamidele is a lecturer in International Relations at the Department of International Relations, Chrisland University, Nigeria. He is also a Research Fellow at the Institute of Peace, Security, and Governance, Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria. I hold the United Nations training certificates in peace and security from the Peace Operations Training Institute, United States of America. I am a recipient of many international grants, awards and fellowships including the prestigious Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa Program, Social Science Research Council and Carnegie Corporation of New York, (2017-2018; 2018-2019); Trust Africa Illicit Financial Flow (2015); Equator Peace Academy, Uganda Martyrs University, Uganda, (2012) and Women in International Security (WIIS), Washington, USA (2017-2019). I have published articles in India Quarterly: A Journal of International Affairs (SAGE) International Journal on Minority and Group Rights (Brill); African Conflict and Peacebuilding Review (Indiana University Press), and Jadavpur Journal of International Relations (SAGE).

Bentrovato, Denise (PhD) [email protected]

University of Pretoria, South Africa

Dr. Denise Bentrovato is the co-director of the African Association for History Education and a researcher/ lecturer in history education at the University of Pretoria. At present, she is also a research fellow at the University of Leuven and a visiting Assistant Professor at the Institut Supérieur Pédagogique de Goma in eastern Congo. Her current work centres on examining educational responses to historical wrongs within the framework of nation-building and transitional justice processes.

Betiang, Peter A. (Ph.D) [email protected]

University of Calabar, Nigeria

Peter Betiang holds a master's degree and PhD in Community Development from the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, and the University of Calabar respectively. His research interest covers poverty Reduction, environmental rights and sustainability. He teaches development studies in the department of Continuing Education and Development Studies University of Calabar.






Chizea, Bonaventure [email protected]

Ambrose Alli University, Nigeria

Bonaventure Chizea is a lecturer in the Department of Political Science, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Nigeria. He holds an M.Sc degree in Political Science from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. His research interests are in the fields of labour and the state in Africa and human rights. His publications include Overcoming Development Crisis in Africa: A challenge in the 21st Century (2011) and State of Human Rights in Nigeria (2011).

Coons, Hannah [email protected]

Brigham Young University, USA

Hannah is a data enthusiast and offers the transitional justice field a unique perspective, including the skills to capture, visualize, and apply quantitative data. After performing in-depth research and reaching out to stakeholders, Hannah designed sanitation and education development projects to address local needs in Kiribati and Philippines. To carry out these projects, Hannah studied the relevant theoretical literature, designed and distributed surveys to locals, and used the feedback from those surveys to write and present projects to peers. These projects incorporated the principles of human-centered design, a process to design services using locally driven feedback at every stage. Hannah has lived in Ireland and Israel and has learned about conflict and tensions within both countries. At Brigham Young University, Hannah works as a teaching assistant. She also serves as trainer and lead coder with the Global Truth Commission Index (GTCI), the most comprehensive research project on truth commissions on the planet.

Fayomi, Oyenike O. (PhD) [email protected]


Oluyemi Fayomi is a multidisciplinary academic, immediate past Head of Department and Associate Professor of International Relations in the Department of Political Science and International Relations, College of Leadership Development Studies, Covenant University. She is currently the Research Cluster Leader of Gender, Peace and Security Studies and Resource Person for the African Union on the African Institute of Remittances (AIR) Technical Assistance Program Her areas of research interest include: Migration and Diaspora, Remittances, Human Rights, e-Governance, Peace and Security Studies, Regional Integration, Gender and Development Issues.







Foday-Musa, Teddy [email protected]

University of Sierra Leone, Sierra Leone

Teddy Foday-Musa is a Rotary Peace Fellow and the first Sierra Leonean to be awarded a Rotary Fellowship for a Master’s program. He is a holder of a Master in International Studies (MIS) Degree, in the area of Peace and Conflict Resolution from the University of Queensland in Brisbane – Australia. Upon graduation from Fourah Bay College with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science, Teddy did his first post-graduate studies in Journalism and News Writing and graduated with honours from the London School of Journalism (LSJ) in the United Kingdom. Teddy is also a certified Kingian nonviolence resource-person and trainer-of-trainers, credited by the University of Rhode Island – USA. Teddy worked extensively to restore peace to his native country Sierra Leone during the civil war. He is the first Sierra Leonean Peace Representative appointed by the World Peace Prayer Society (WPPS) based in New York. He is currently a lecturer and a staff Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Peace and Conflict Studies – Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone.

Folami, Olakunle M. (PhD) [email protected]

Adekunle Ajasin University, Nigeria Olakunle Michael Folami is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the Adekunle Ajasin University, Nigeria. He bagged BSc., MSc Sociology and Anthropology from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria. He also bagged PhD in Transitional Justice from the University of Ulster, Londondery, UK. Folami was a Research Fellow at the Nuremberg International Principles Academic, Germany. His areas of research including gender, reparations, DDR and amnesty.

Gati, Noble Kwabla [email protected]

Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration, Ghana

Noble Kwabla Gati is a PhD candidate at the School of Public Service and Governance, Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA). He has completed his coursework and working on his dissertation, which explores the role of Truth and Reconciliation Commissions in consolidating democratic governance and peace in Africa, with an empirical focus on Ghana’s National Reconciliation Commission.






Ibhawoh, Bonny (PhD) [email protected]

McMaster University Canada

Dr. Bonny Ibhawoh is a Professor of History and Global Human Rights at McMaster University, Canada. His research interests are global human rights, peace/conflict studies, legal and imperial history. He has taught in universities in Africa, Europe and North America. Previously, he was a Human Rights Fellow at the Carnegie Council for Ethics and International Affairs, New York and Research Fellow at the Danish Institute for Human Rights, Copenhagen. He is the author of Human Rights in Africa (Cambridge University Press, 2018); Imperial Justice (Oxford University Press, 2013) and Imperialism and Human Rights (SUNY Press, 2007). Dr. Ibhawoh is member of the College of Scholars of the Royal Society of Canada. He currently directs a project on "Truth Commissions and the Politics of Memory" at McMaster University

Idowu, Aluko O. (Rev.) [email protected]

Ajayi Crowther University, Nigeria

Reverend Aluko Opeyemi is a Political Scientist. He lectures in the Ajayi Crowther University (Political Science Department). He is currently rounding up his PhD research. He has published more than thirty research works on violence, peace, judiciary and comparative politics in credible outlets across the world.

Ikuteyijo, Lanre (PhD) [email protected]


Dr. Ikuteyijo Lanre Olusegun is a Senior Lecturer and Researcher in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria. His research interests include migration, urbanization, and community policing. He has published in reputable journals and contributed to a number of books and encyclopedia entries. He was a visiting researcher to the Department of History, McMaster University, Canada under the auspices of the Center for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), Waterloo, Canada.

Izuagie, Lexington (PhD) [email protected]

Ambrose Alli University, Nigeria

Dr. Lexington Izuagie is a Senior Lecturer, and current Acting Head, Department of History and International Studies, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo State, Nigeria. He specializes in International Political Economy.










Jallow, Baba Galleh (PhD) [email protected]

Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC), The Gambia

Baba Galleh Jallow holds a Ph. D in African History from the University of California at Davis, a Masters in Liberal Studies from Rutgers University, New Jersey, and a Bachelor of Arts in History and Political Science from Fourah Bay College, the University of Sierra Leone. He has taught African history at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska (2011 – 2015) and African and World history at La Salle University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (2015 – 2017). His research interests include the history of colonial and postcolonial Africa, press freedom, censorship and state formation in Africa, Catholics and Social Justice in Africa, and recently, truth commissions and transitional justice. His publications include Defying Dictatorship (2017), The Catholic Voice in Ghana (2015), Leadership in Colonial Africa (2014), Leadership in Postcolonial Africa (2014), The Kwame Nkrumah Cartoons (2014), The Graveyard Cannot Pray (2013), and Rambler’s Chats (2012). Prior to going into exile to the U.S. in September 2000, Dr. Jallow was assistant editor and editor-in-chief of the Gambian Daily Observer and co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of The independent newspaper, which was banned by the Jammeh regime in March 2006. In the fall semester of 2017, Dr. Jallow was granted a two-year leave of absence from the History Department at La Salle University in Philadelphia to accept an invitation to serve as Executive Secretary of The Gambia’s Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC).

Kamara, Adikalie S. [email protected]

University of Bradford, United Kingdom

Adikalie is a native of Sierra Leone and a human rights and peacebuilding practitioner. He attended the University of Sierra Leone and the University of Bradford in 2007 and 2011 respectively. He has worked for GOAL IRELAND as a Community Facilitator attached to the Street Children’s programme and the Special Court for Sierra Leone offices in Freetown and The Hague. He currently works as a Research Associate at the John and Elnora Ferguson Centre for African Studies (JEFCAS) at the University of Bradford and has participated in several research projects on Transitional Justice and Peacebuilding and Reconstruction. His current publication is “A Trauma-Informed Approach to the Protection and Support of Witnesses in International Tribunals: Ten Guiding Principles” published on the Journal of Human Rights Practice 2017.




Kanyamurwa, John M. [email protected]

Kyambogo University, Uganda

John Mary Kanyamurwa is currently a Lecturer in the Department of History and Political Science at Kyambogo University where he teaches Political Science. A former Head of the Department, Kanyamurwa’s research interests lie in political parties and elections management, governance mechanisms, civil society, decentralization, food and nutrition policy, conflict, security and administrative responses to organized terror. Much of Kanyamurwa's recent research focuses on political accountability, governance of health systems and health equity and citizen competence.

Kasumu, Modupe [email protected]


Koroma, Abubakarr [email protected]

Sierra Leone Peace Museum, Sierra Leone

Abubakarr Koroma is from Sierra Leone capital city of Freetown. He works for the Sierra Leone Peace Museum as the Education and Outreach Officer. His duties encompass outreach to schools, communities and university, host and guide visitors and researchers to the Sierra Leone Peace Museum. He participated in the "Breaking the culture of silence around the war" in Sierra Leone, Mobile school exhibitions, and the National vision programme. He has gained a lot of experiences in working with government, NGOs, CSOs, CBOs and school institutions in public education and outreach. He holds a B.A degree in History and Sociology; a Diploma in Education from Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone; and Certificate and Diploma in Information, Communication Technology (ICT) Software from Sierra Unite Network and Sierra eRider Computer School.






Lespérance, Janine [email protected]

Lawyers Without Borders, Canada

Janine Lespérance is a human rights lawyer focused on transitional justice and strategic litigation. She works closely with her colleagues in Mali to increase civil society participation in the peace process, build the capacity of the Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation Commission, and ensure rights are respected, including the right to reparation. Her experience includes project creation and leadership; legal research, analysis, and strategy development; and teaching. Previously based at the University of Ottawa, she has taught human rights law as a part-time Professor for the Faculty of Law, coordinated projects for the Human Rights Clinic of the Human Rights Research and Education Centre, and been Executive Director of the International Commission of Jurists Canadian Section. She articled at Sack Goldblatt Mitchell LLP, working on public interest cases and Independent Assessment Process claims for Indian Residential School survivors. She has also worked with the Canadian Centre for International Justice, Amnesty International, and the Rabinal Community Legal Clinic in Guatemala. She holds a J.D., specialization in international law, from the University of Ottawa; an M.A., Conflict Analysis and Resolution, from Carleton University’s Norman Paterson School of International Affairs; and a B.A., Political Science, from St. Francis Xavier University

Levin, Melissa (PhD) [email protected]

University of Toronto, Canada

Melissa Levin has a PhD in political science from the University of Toronto where she currently lectures in African Studies and manages a collaborative humanities research project with the University of the Western Cape. She has worked as a political strategist for the National Union of Mineworkers, the African National Congress and New Africa Investments Limited. She writes for the online blog, Africaisacountry and is working on a manuscript on comparative settler colonialisms and naming practices.



Longi, Felix (PhD) [email protected]


Felix Tonsuglo Yakubu Longi is a social historian whose research focuses on chieftaincy and ethnic conflicts in Ghana. He holds a PhD in African History from University of Ghana. His PhD research, which interrogated inter-ethnic conflicts between the Mamprusi and Kusasi ethnic groups in Northern Ghana, was partly sponsored by the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) with funds provided by the Carnegie Foundation of New York. Longi is currently a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research and Consultancy Services (IIRaCS), University for Development Studies, Tamale-Ghana where he also teaches history and ethnic conflicts at the Faculty of Integrated Development Studies (FIDS). He was also a recipient of the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFUND) for graduate research funding (2010-2012). Since August 2015, he has been the coordinator of the Dagomba-Gonja History Research Project sponsored by Africa Tiger Holdings.

Manirakiza, Pacifique (PhD) [email protected]

University of Ottawa, Canada

Dr. Pacifique Manirakiza is a Professor of Law at the University of Ottawa. He is also a former member of the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights where he was the Chairperson of the Working Group on Extractive Industries, Environment and Human Rights. In 2014, Professor Manirakiza has been appointed member of the first African Union-led Commission of Inquiry on South Sudan. In Burundi, he served as an Assistant Professor at University of Burundi as well as a Deputy Prosecutor in Ngozi and Rutana Provinces.

Mawuko-Yevugah, Lord (PhD) [email protected]

Ghana Institute Management and Public Administration, Ghana

Dr. Lord Mawuko-Yevugah is a Senior Lecturer and Head of Department for Public Management and International Relations at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA). He received his PhD in Political Science from the University of Alberta, Canada, and his MPhil from Cambridge University in England. Before moving to GIMPA, he taught International Relations at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. His research interests cut across public policy and administration, Ghanaian politics, extractive industries, international organizations, and neoliberal globalization.








Millar, Gearoid (PhD) [email protected]

University of Aberdeen, Scotland

Gearoid Millar is Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) of Sociology at the University of Aberdeen. His research focuses on the local experiences of international interventions for peace, justice, and development and for this purpose he has recently been developing the Ethnographic Peace Research (EPR) approach to intervention evaluation. He is the author of An Ethnographic Approach to Peacebuilding: Understanding Local Experiences in Transitional States (Routledge 2014) and editor of Ethnographic Peace Research: Approaches and Tensions (Palgrave 2018). Articles on this and other topics have appeared in journals such as the Journal of Peace Research, Cooperation and Conflict, Third World Quarterly, the International Journal of Transitional Justice, Human Rights Review, the Journal of Human Rights and Memory Studies, among others.

Momodu, Fatima [email protected]

Nile University of Nigeria, Nigeria

Fatima Momodu combines a background in Civil Law (Nasarawa State University, Nigeria) with an MA in Peace and Conflict Studies (Hacettepe University, Turkey). Her research focuses on the use of peace education in the promotion of peace as an end to the different forms of violence, violent conflicts and, in particular, violence against women in Nigeria. In addition, she conducts research in international law. She also engages in inter-disciplinary research with scholars from political science and other humanities courses. She currently lectures at the Law Department of the Nile University of Nigeria.

Nako, Nontsasa (PhD) [email protected]

University of Johannesburg, South Africa

Nontsasa Nako, has a PhD in Philosophy, Interpretation and Culture from Binghamton University, and is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Nelson Mandela University’s Research Chair in Identities and Social Cohesion in Africa. Her research focuses on gender, memory and representation in South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Her work appeared in various journals including Jenda Journal of Culture and African Women Studies and Word and Text of Literary Studies and Linguistics

Niang, Amy (PhD) [email protected]

University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa

Amy Niang is senior lecturer in the Department of International Relations at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. She is the author of The Postcolonial African State in Transition: Stateness and Modes of Sovereignty (Rowman and Littlefield, 2018).








Oduntan, Oluwatoyin (PhD) [email protected]

Towson University, USA

Oluwatoyin Oduntan holds a Doctorate of Dalhousie University, Canada and currently teaches African History at Towson University, Maryland, USA. He is the author of Power, Culture and Modernity in Nigeria, and has published articles on Intellectual History, colonial medicine, and human rights in Africa.

Oduro, Franklin (PhD) [email protected]

Center for Democratic Development, Ghana

Dr. Franklin Oduro is the Director of Programs and the Deputy Executive Director at the Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana). He holds a PhD in Political Science from Carleton University in Canada, as well as a Post-Graduate Certificate in Comparative Transitional Justice from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Dr. Oduro has over 15 years of experience in democracy and governance research and advocacy, focusing on post-transition politics of human rights accountability processes, civil society and elections. Dr. Oduro has in the past consulted for several international and local organizations on transitional justice issues.

Okwechime, Iwebunor (PhD) [email protected]


Iwebunor Okwechime is a Senior Lecturer in International Relations at Obafemi Awolowo University in Nigeria. He is a former A.G. Leventis Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, United Kingdom, and a former American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) African Humanities Programme (AHP) Postdoctoral Fellow at the College of Humanities (CoHu), University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. His articles have been published in both local and foreign journals. He has recently co-edited State, Governance and Security in Africa (2016).

Oloke, Ireoluwatomi [email protected]

University of Manitoba, Canada

Ireoluwatomi Oloke is a PhD student in the Peace and Conflict Studies program at the University of Manitoba, with interests in critical liberal peacebuilding, terrorism and, social entrepreneurship







Raval, Cammaert J. (PhD) [email protected]

University of Toronto, Canada

Dr. Jessica Cammaert Raval is an historian of modern Ghana with research interests in International Relations in Africa; Women, Gender & Development; Asian diaspora; and Human Rights. Her first book, 'Undesirable Practices': Women, children and the politics of the body in northern Ghana, 1930-1972 (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2016) draws connections between present-day human rights issues and longer histories of colonial exploitation and 'development' schemes in northern Ghana, West Africa. Her current research focuses on the recruitment and careers of Asian development experts in colonial Africa.

Romeri-Lewis, Natalie W. (Esq.) [email protected]

Brigham Young University, USA

After working as Senior Project Associate of the WomanStats Project, a 373-variable project analyzing laws, practices, and prevalence of women across 176 countries, Natalie co-authored cross-national data-sets on domestic violence law and CEDAW compliance. As a former attorney, Natalie teaches, consults internationally, and writes about women within peace, transitional justice, law, and data. At Brigham Young, Natalie teaches transitional justice, international development, and women, peace, and security. To arm human rights and transitional justice practitioners and scholars with needed data, Natalie and students are compiling a 350-variable database on truth-seeking, gendered participation, and historical memory across three stages (Design, Operations, Final Report) of 47 truth commissions. They provide post-conflict stakeholders, including the newly appointed Colombian truth commissioners, with policy documents containing comparative data, original indices, human-centered designs, and recommendations.

Sayndee, T. Debey (PhD) [email protected]

Kofi Annan Institute for Conflict Transformation, Liberia

Debey, Professor of peace and conflict studies, has worked for many years on complex nexuses of the conflicts in West Africa, particularly Liberia and Sierra Leone. He did his undergraduate at the University of Liberia, and post graduate at the University of Wales, UK. He heads the SSR Think Tank at the University of Liberia. He has worked in civil society for many years and is a strong advocate on Women’s rights issues; co-authored: African Truth Commissions and Transitional Justice and lately, Social Mobilization and the Ebola Virus Disease in Liberia; West African experiences in Security Sector Governance: Developments in Legislative Oversights in Liberia.





Sikulibo, Jean de Dieu (PhD) [email protected]

International Humanitarian Law Resource Centre, Mali

Dr. Jean de Dieu Sikulibo currently works as a senior legal advisor at the International Humanitarian Law Resource Centre. He received his PhD in International Criminal Law from the University of Strathclyde, UK in June 2016, his LL.M in International Law from the University of Cape Town, South Africa in 2010 and his LL.B from the National University of Rwanda in 2007. He has served as a legal assistant at the Supreme Court of Rwanda and as a legal officer in the department of access to justice at Lawyers without Borders Mission in Rwanda. Dr Sikulibo also served as legal advisor at the United Nations, a visiting lecturer of international law at the Kigali Independent University and the University of Lay Adventists Of Kigali in Rwanda. During his doctoral studies, he also served as a Tutor of Law at School of Law of the University of Strathclyde, UK. He was formerly visiting Lecturer at the Kigali Independent University (2010). He has written and spoken widely on a wide range of international legal issues primarily relating to the recent developments in international criminal justice, transitional justice processes, international humanitarian law and human rights.

Southall, Roger (PhD) [email protected]

University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa

Roger Southall is Emeritus Professor in Sociology, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. His books include Liberation Movements in South Africa (2013) and The New Black Middle Class in South Africa (2016). He is currently embarking on a major study of whites in post-apartheid South Africa. Many moons ago, he did his PhD on aspects of colonial Ghana.

Sullivan, Érick

[email protected]

Université Laval, Canada

Érick Sullivan is a lawyer, the Canadian Partnership for International Justice’s coordinator and the Deputy Director of Université Laval’s International Criminal and Humanitarian Law Clinic. He has vast knowledge on the prosecution of international crimes and broad experience in supervising students’ work through clinical legal education (notably in the context of some of LWBC’s and CCIJ’s cases and research projects). His involvement since 2010 in more than 50 clinical projects proposed by international organizations, NGOs, States officials and lawyers in various areas of the law allowed him to develop a thorough and cross-sectoral understanding of the remedies for victims of international crimes.




Till, Christopher M. [email protected]

Apartheid Museum, South Africa

Christopher Till was educated at Hilton College and Rhodes University where he obtained a masters degree in fine art (cum laude). He began his career at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe in 1977, becoming Director in 1980 before serving as Director of the Johannesburg Art Gallery from 1983 to 1991. Christopher is the founding and current Director of the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg and has organised exhibitions on Nelson Mandela, Steve Biko, Oliver Tambo and the Women’s March among many others. He is the principal driver in the development of the Mandela Capture Site in Howick, KwaZulu-Natal with its new museum and renowned sculpture of Mr. Mandela by Marco Cianfanelli, as well as the Javett Art Centre at the University of Pretoria due to open in 2019. In 2018, Christopher received the USIBA (Creative and Cultural Industries) Award in the Heritage & Museum category awarded by Minister Nathi Mthethwa: Department Arts & Culture South Africa.

Tlou, Tendaishe [email protected]

Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum (National Transitional Justice Working Group), Zimbabwe

T. Tlou is a freelance Researcher/Writer and publishes extensively in Human rights, Social justice, Gender, Environmental security, International law, Peace and Governance issues. He is a holder of a BSc (Honours) Degree in Peace and Governance with Bindura University of Science Education-Zimbabwe, is also in possession a Post-Graduate Applied Conflict Transformation Certificate and is a Young African Leaders Forum (YALF) and the Global Coalition for Conflict Transformation affiliate member/contributor. He is also a journal contributor to the Young African Leaders Forum (YALF). He works with various NGOs and Government Ministries in South Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia and the UK. He is currently working as a Transitional Justice Advocacy and Research Specialist with the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum c/o National Transitional Justice Working Group (NTJWG) and currently studying a Master in Human Rights, Peace and Development.





Ugor, Paul (PhD) [email protected]

Illinois State University, USA

Paul Ugor is an Associate Professor in the Department of English at Illinois State University, Normal, Illinois. His research interests are in Anglophone World Literatures, Postcolonial Studies, Cultural Theory, New Media Cultures; and Modern African Literatures and Cultures. He is the author of Nollywood: Popular Culture and Narratives of Youth Struggles in Nigeria (2016). Dr Ugor has also co-edited several collections including, African Youth Cultures in the Age of Globalization: Challenges, Agency and Resistance (Ashgate 2015 / Routledge 2017); Contemporary Youth Cultures in Africa, Special Issue of Postcolonial Text. Vol. 8, No 3 & amp; 4, 2013; and Youth, Cultural Politics and New Social Spaces in an Era of Globalization, Special Issue of Review of Education, Pedagogy and Cultural Studies 31:4 (2009). His research and teaching interests are concerned with emerging trends in politics, economy, communication technologies, cultural representations, and everyday life, especially in the postcolonial world.

Umukoro, Nathaniel (PhD) [email protected]

Edo University Iyamho, Nigeria

Wellington, Felix O. (PhD) [email protected]

University of Cape Breton, Canada

Dr. Felix Odartey-Wellington is an Associate Professor of Communication at Cape Breton University (CBU). Dr. Odartey-Wellington received his PhD in Communication and Culture from Ryerson and York Universities (Toronto), his MA in Media Studies from Concordia University (Montreal), his BL Professional Law Qualifications from the Ghana School of Law (Accra), and his BA (Honours) in Political Science and Law from the University of Ghana (Legon). He was called to the Ghanaian Bar in 1998 and is also a Public Affairs Officer in the Canadian Armed Forces. Dr. Odartey-Wellington’s research interests include corporate communication, race and media, news and public affairs, as well as communications law and policy.






Yilmaz, Melike (PhD) [email protected]


Melike Yılmaz received her PhD in Comparative Literature in Istanbul, Turkey. She has extensive experience teaching Comparative, World and Postcolonial Literature courses at universities in Turkey, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria and Ghana. Her research interests are; Contemporary and Postcolonial Literature, African Diaspora, Global Human Rights, and Migration and Refugee Issues. She was the Director of the Institute of Languages and African Studies at Regent University College of Science and Technology in Accra, Ghana. Currently, she is an adjunct assistant professor in Department of History at McMaster University in Canada.

Yilmaz, Mesut (PhD) [email protected]


Mesut Yilmaz obtained his MA and PhD in International Economics at the Marmara University, Turkey. He is currently an Adjunct Assistant Professor in Department of History at McMaster University, Canada. Previously he worked and researched at various institutions and universities in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, UK, Nigeria, Ghana and Turkey. His main research interests are land issues in economic development, international trade, environmental economics and Africa’s structural transformation. He has published several articles in a number of academic journals.

Yusuf, Hakeem (PhD) [email protected]

University of Derby, United Kingdom

Hakeem Yusuf is Chair in Law and Global Studies at the University of Derby. In 2011, he served on a truth and reconciliation commission in Osun State, Nigeria. His article in the International Journal of Transitional Justice provided a pioneering account of the truth-telling process in Nigeria. He has published his research in leading peer-reviewed journals including the Global Constitutionalism, International Journal of Constitutional Law, Law and Policy, and the African Human Rights Law Journal.

participant list - mcmaster university...university, ile- ife, osun state. he is also a doctoral...

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