Zimbabwe Rule of Law Journal |153 in terms of the ICESCR and the ICCPR. Furthermore, from a continental perspective, it is conceded that a reading of the ACHPR reveals that it does not have a specific and expressly provided right to housing. Despite this, it is submitted that a right to housing may be read into the ACHPR if the rights protecting the right to the best state of attainable health, right to property, right to protection of the family provided under Article 16, 14 and 18 of the Charter are construed conjunctively and read in pari materia. This was in fact the approach adopted by the ACHPR in the case of SERAC v Nigeria33 in which the Commission adopted an innovative interpretation of the Charter provisions and read into it the right to housing despite the fact that it is not expressly provided therein, as stated above. The Commission observed as follows: “Although the right to housing or shelter is not explicitly provided for under the African Charter, the corollary of the combination of the provisions protecting the right to enjoy the best attainable state of mental and physical health, cited under article 16 above, the right to property, and the protection accorded to the family forbids the wanton destruction of shelter because when housing is destroyed, property, health and family life are adversely affected. It is thus noted that the combined effect of articles 14, 16 and 18(1) reads into the Charter a right to shelter or housing which the Nigerian government has apparently violated.” The Commission went further and observed thus; “At a very minimum, the right to shelter obliges the Nigerian government not to destroy the housing of its citizens and not to obstruct efforts by individuals or communities to rebuild lost homes. The state’s obligation to respect housing rights requires it, and thereby all of its organs and agents, to abstain from carrying out, sponsoring or tolerating any practice, policy or legal measure violating the integrity of the individual or infringing upon his or her freedom to use those material or other resources available to him or her in a way he or she finds most appropriate to satisfy individual, 33 (2001) AHRLR 60 (ACHPR 200)