Let us jump the gun into the prospects of this possible occurrence. There is a meeting scheduled to discuss the option of opting out of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in Addis Ababa today. The Kenyan government which has two of the highest commanders implicated, the president and the deputy, is rethinking the pledge to adhere with the ICC. The ICC has been under scrutiny by most of the developing nations to be a tool for neo-colonialism and imperialism because all the cases that it has pursued since its founding have been African.
The ICC, located in the Hague in the Netherlands, is a court that seeks to hold accountable the highest people in the power hierarchy in the country over their involvement in crimes against humanity. They have a mandate to intervene on the basis that the involved country lacks the required institutions or has a constitution that allows for impunity for these commanders. This is a just cause but all the name calling from the developing world can surely be substantiated.
The ICC has on various occasions failed to bring to justice the heads of states of developed nations who have been involved in the innocent killings in Afghanistan, and other strategic places where the west has developed interest in their national resources.
The Bush administration of the United States of America should have been prosecuted for the Afgan killings. A different perspective drives the current conflict in Mali to the Obama government where, with authority from the United Nations, he sought for colonel Gadhafi while arming the Tuareg rebels. These Tuareg rebels were part of the groups causing the mayhem and later loss of lives in Northern Mali, the town of Konna.
There should at least been a sign to tell the world that the court is not as inefficient and not a tool for imperialism but they failed. It is worth noting that the reason that the USA has not been sought for is because of their refusal to be a member of the ICC. They hold the view that the American judicial institutions are better than those of the ICC and as such they are afraid that their citizens will not be in good conditions.
This gave rise to American exceptionalism. This is the view that America is in the position of pursuing justice, equality and peace and as such is not liable to any crimes they commit in the interim. In common language they not accountable to internal laws. This is the same view that can be traced back to the “white man’s burden” with regard to races in this space. This should be eliminated else all African and other involved countries should boycott involvement with a country upholding such ideals to heart in this new world order. If one country is immune then there certainly will never be order.
It is time Kenya withdraws from ICC. There is a well established judiciary and legal system that was not there before the compliance with the ICC to hand over the perpetrators of the 2007 post-election violence. The country has moved on to put in place institutions that are independent of the government which removes the need to have the ICC handling its cases.
Although it seems unusual for a country to question the president and receive proper evidence when he is in office, and if found guilty to subject him to the rule of law, I believe that Kenya and many countries in Africa can now enjoy this luxury. This said, I support the move to do away with unusual high expenditure on an institution that is losing and will lose its reason for establishment. The ICC is struggling to define itself and to prove itself worth the millions of money spent on just countable single digit achievements. I suggest this money to be channeled to develop ways to elevate the worlds poor and bridging of the wealth gap.
Maybe we are just part of those that expect too much of an institution born just a decade ago but we prefer to be part of those who expect nothing at all.