Strengthening environmental justice through anti-corruption governance in africa: An insight from nigeria and uganda

This study evaluates the relationship between anti-corruption regulation and environmental justice in Africa, and argues that fragmentation among legal and institutional frameworks has greatly diminished the ability of African states to stop environmentally destructive practices caused by corruption. This study also develops the central argument that effective environmental justice can only occur when it is supported by strong, cohesive anti-corruption laws. The study uses a comparative legal and doctrinal methodology to examine how international anti-corruption instruments and regional African legal frameworks interact with national systems of regulation regarding environmental protection and natural resource management. Focusing on Nigeria and Uganda, this study identifies how poor enforcement of existing regulations, regulatory capture, lack of transparency in the issuance of licenses, and limited access to the courts contribute to both environmental degradation and unequal distribution of wealth and benefits. Additionally, this study examines the normative overlap between anti-corruption laws and environmental justice principles such as accountability, transparency, participatory and equitable sharing of benefits. Finally, the paper presents a framework for a unified legal regime that coordinates anti-corruption mechanisms within environmental governance by establishing harmonised legislation, enhancing interagency cooperation, expanding public participation and developing rights-based mechanisms of enforcement. In its efforts to recognise anti-corruption regulation as one of the primary pillars of sustainable environmental justice development, this research will inform current debates on governance reform in Africa and provide actionable recommendations for connecting legal accountability to ecological sustainability and social equity.