a new generation of african judges wants to get rid of the ridiculous wigs inherited from british colonial power

It’s been half a century since Africa took back the last of the lands the British stole from the continent, but the violent legacy of colonization still lives on in many ways. On top of the a balance of power between the white people who stayed and the people indigenous to the land remaining virtually unchanged, in many of these countries, so too have the garish symbols of the highest courts of law: horsehair wigs.

As The Washington Post points out, these wigs were first worn by British high court judges, but now even the country’s barristers have stopped wearing the old-fashioned relic.

But in former British colonies including Kenya, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Malawi, the stuffy headpieces are still worn by judges and lawyers. However, a new generation of African jurists is hoping to change that.

As these change-makers have pointed out, the reasons for removing this reminder of a legacy of violence are numerous. On top of representing the greatest tool of colonial violence and being ugly as all hell, WaPo reports that an investigation in Uganda estimated that each wig cost $6,500.

“The colonial system used law as [an] instrument of repression, and we’re still maintaining this tradition without questioning it,” Arnold Tsunga, director of the Africa program at the International Commission of Jurists, told The Post. “It’s a disgrace to the modern courts of Africa.”