Issue

Vol. 47 No. 4 (2022): Africa Development

10 - Towards Understanding the Cameroon-Nigeria and the Eswatini-South African Border Dispute through the Prism of the Principle of uti possidetis juris Customary International Law

https://doi.org/10.57054/ad.v47i4.2984
Hlengiwe Portia Dlamini
University of the Free State, South Africa
Manka’ah Mafor Awasom-Fru
Uppsala University, Sweden
Lenhle Precious Dlamini
University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6952-1558
Sirri Awasom-Fru
Balsillie School of International Affairs, Canada

Africa Development, Vol. 47 No. 4 (2022): Africa Development

Abstract

This article examines the Cameroon-Nigeria and Eswatini-South Africa border disputes from a comparative perspective within the framework of the doctrine of uti possidetis juris in customary international law. Extant scholarly works on these two border disputes have not been sufficiently cogent to enable an evaluation of the relevance and shortcomings of uti possidetis juris. The study methodology is qualitative and includes archival and newspaper sources, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. This study reveals that the strict application of the uti possidetis juris doctrine to the Cameroon-Nigeria dispute over Bakassi was inappropriate and did not generate the anticipated peace and security. The Eswatini-South Africa bilateral talks, aimed at adjusting colonially inherited borders, were an attempt to comply with uti possidetis juris, but flopped. Following the Cameroon example, the Eswatini monarchy then contemplated taking South Africa to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). But the two scenarios were different, and the invocation of uti possidetis juris was not an appropriate instrument for resolving the Eswatini- South Africa border dispute. Eswatini irredentism has persisted because of the country’s commitment to Sobhuza’s testament, which sanctioned the unity of the Eswatini people. 

Keywords

Cameroon-Nigeria Eswatini-South Africa border disputes The Hague uti possidetis juris the Sobhuza Testament
[1]
Dlamini, H.P. et al. 2022. 10 - Towards Understanding the Cameroon-Nigeria and the Eswatini-South African Border Dispute through the Prism of the Principle of uti possidetis juris Customary International Law. Africa Development. 47, 4 (Dec. 2022), 239–265. DOI:https://doi.org/10.57054/ad.v47i4.2984.
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