Uhuru gives hope to Africans

Mmegi Editor | Thursday October 9, 2014 16:38

The charges are related to his country’s 2007 post-election violence that claimed over 1,000 lives and displaced tens of thousands.

He is the first sitting president to appear before the ICC. This is a court that was established more than a decade ago to resolve cases of crimes committed in conflict areas, through the Roman Statute.

For many years, the African Union (AU) has accused the ICC of targeting African presidents, at the advantage of developed countries. This is despite the fact that they are the ones who initiated ICC, and appended their signatures to its establishment.

To date the court has tried several former rebels, former presidents and sentenced them to jail. One immediate example is Charles Taylor who was sentenced to 50 years imprisonment for his role in the decade-long Sierra Leone – Liberia war. During that time, thousands of people were killed, others were amputated, whilst others had their body organs removed whilst they were alive.

Years back, the ICC issued a warrant of arrest against Sudan president Omar Al Bashir, something, which has rubbed his colleagues at the AU the wrong way. At some point they threatened to pull out of the ICC agreement.

For Uhuru to have agreed to appear before the court raises a ray of hope for our troubled continent, a rare sign that there are African leaders who believe in the rule of law. What is even astonishing is the fact that he was voted into office when the case had already commenced before the ICC.

Despite the charges he is facing, we commend Kenyatta for putting the interests of Kenyans before his own.  Had it been others, as  is the case with Bashir, they would not have cooperated with the court but rather have Kenya face economic sanctions, and international isolation.

We hope that African leaders, and the world will learn from these proceedings that no one is above the law. We say this fully aware of the immunity laws that many African leaders enjoy whilst in office, including Botswana’s. This is one flawed practice that makes such leaders think that they are above the law.

Our hope is that the ICC extends its long arm of the law and finds ways to prosecute those who may not be signatories to the Roman Statute. One big example is the Israel-Palestine war, an element of which is Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine land, which has contributed to the unending war between the two nations.

Today’s thought

“In the end you should always do

the right thing even if it’s hard.”

– Nicholas Sparks, The Last Song