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Since February 3, 2026, the Court of Justice of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) has a new President: former First Advocate General Kuami Gameli Lodonou, representing the Togolese Republic.
The extraordinary and solemn public hearing for his installation took place on Wednesday, February 11, 2026, at the institution’s headquarters in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, in the presence of the Representative of the President of the Commission, the President of the Court of Auditors, and other members of UEMOA bodies. The judicial authorities of Burkina Faso were also present.
Several speeches punctuated the ceremony.
In his address, Kalifa Bague, First Advocate General, first presented the academic and professional background of the incoming President before offering him advice for the success of his mission at the head of the Court of Justice.
In his address, the outgoing President then emphasized that the change in leadership at the UEMOA Court of Justice, “far from being a rupture, is the very expression of institutional maturity.” Mahawa Sémou Diouf wished his successor every success, expressing his conviction that “the UEMOA Court of Justice will continue, with determination, to play its central role in building a Union founded on law, solidarity, and fraternity among the member states.”
Finally, after paying a heartfelt tribute to his predecessor, the new President, Kuami Gameli Lodonou, affirmed his full awareness of the challenges facing the Court in a rapidly changing regional and international context. “Assuming the presidency of this Court means accepting the responsibility of preserving its independence, strengthening its moral and legal authority, and ensuring the quality, consistency, and accessibility of its jurisprudence,” President Lodonou declared in his inaugural address. He expressed his wish that “the Court of Justice of the WAEMU remain a space of legal excellence, institutional serenity and fidelity to the ideals that presided over the creation of our Union.”
