(Investing in Africa’s Future)
FACULTY OF MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION
PUBLIC SECTOR MANAGEMENT TRAINING PROGRAMME (PSMTP)
P.O. BOX 1320 MUTARE. ZIMBABWE – TEL: 263-20-61616/60026 FAX: 263-20-61785
PROGRAMME: MASTER OF PUBLIC SECTOR MANAGEMENT
FIRST NAME: JEREMIAH
SURNAME: BVIRINDI.
STUDENT ID: 130466
INTAKE:2013
COURSE NAME: LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE
COURSE CODE: PSM 514
ASSIGNMENT NUMBER: 2
NAME OF LECTURER: Dr H KWANDAYI
ASSIGNMENT DUE DATE: 31/10/ 2014
ASSIGNMENT TITLE: Debate the notion that the recent withdrawal of the African Union from
membership of the International Criminal Court is a political strategy of protectionism which allows
impunity in many African Countries to go unchecked.
COMMENTS:
OVERALL MARK:……………………
MARKER’S NAME:………………………………………………………………….
DATE:…………………………………….
SIGNATURE:…………………………………………………………………………..
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Table of Contents
1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 3
2. Leadership definitions:........................................................................................................................ 3
3 .Leadership and its significance defined; ............................................................................................. 4
4. Democracy .......................................................................................................................................... 7
5. Democracy- Key Elements ................................................................................................................. 9
6. Governance ....................................................................................................................................... 10
7. Good Governance ............................................................................................................................. 10
8. Human Rights ................................................................................................................................... 11
9. Charter of the United Nations and The Universal Declaration of Human Rights ............................. 12
10. The Constitutive Act, Human and Peoples’ Rights Charter of The African Union. ....................... 13
11. The International Criminal Court .................................................................................................... 14
11.1 Crimes against humanity;.......................................................................................................... 15
11.2 War crimes: ............................................................................................................................... 15
12. Criticism against the ICC ................................................................................................................ 15
13. African Union Withdrawal Proposal............................................................................................... 16
14. Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................... 17
15. References:...................................................................................................................................... 18
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1. Introduction
On 13 October 2013 the African Union –member states threatened to withdraw from the
International Criminal Court (ICC) in protest to the ICC’s move to put the Kenyan sitting
president and his deputy on trial at the Hague for their alleged involvement in post-election
politically charged violence which claimed the lives of 1200 civilians and left over 600000
Kenyan civilians displaced to which Raila Odinga, the opposition’s party leader was part but
not implicated (Nation’s Daily, Kenya 2013).
The threat to withdraw left many questions on the leaps of many as some see it as a political
strategy of protectionism which allows impurity in many African countries to go unchecked;
and, others see it as a noble stance by brave African leaders to show their disappointment in
the discriminatory manner the Icc handles serious cases of Human and Peoples’ rights
violations particularly involving powerful states and individuals. Others also see it as a good
solidarity gesture to their counterpart (the Kenyan President) against the perceived
discriminatory onslaught on weak and small African countries.
Given the complexity of perceptions and anxiety inside peoples’ minds, this paper will attempt
to interrogate the contents and contexts of Conventions and Constitutive Act that brought the
AU members-states together and to establish on what values the relationship was forged. A
brief examination of the contents and the objectives of the ICC convention will be made and
the paper will also attempt to find out how many African countries are members of the ICC
and what are the binding principles on members and non-members.
The paper will proceed to examine and establish governance, democracy, and human rights
compliance mechanism in the African Union grouping and find out under what circumstances
should leaders resolve to withdraw from the ICC and what does the International law says on
such members or non-members.
2. Leadership definitions:
There are almost as many different leadership definitions as there are persons who have
attempted to define the concept (Bass,1981 as cited in World Bank 2010).Leadership is the art
of influencing others to their maximum performance to accomplish any task, objective or
project.( Cohen, 1990 9. For Jacobs and Jaques, (1990) in World Bank ( 2010), Leadership is
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a process of giving purpose (meaningful direction) to collective effort, and causing willing
effort to be expanded to achieve purpose.
3 .Leadership and its significance defined;
Jansen, in Zyl, Dalglish, Plessis and Pietersen (2009), pointed out that the crisis of leadership
this side of the continent (Africa) can be described in pandemic terms. He observed it is
restricted not only to the political world but also the religious, corporate, educational and in
global terms—something, he said, most destructively represented in the world recession
starting in and emanating from the West. Jansen noted that unbridled greed is a consequence
of self-centred leadership in which personal ambition among leaders overrides the interests of
ordinary people at the bottom of the capitalist food chain—a case of Africa.
Jansen’s observation tend to suggest that the International criminal court as an institution is
also prone to err, similarly , the African leaders are also prone to err, but the reality lies
somewhere at the centre of power-bases which this paper seeks to establish.
He said
leadership in the African context returns humanity to the centre of organisational leadership,
citing positive examples of African leadership which embraced and exemplified the broader
human values demonstrated by such leaders like; Nelson Mandela of South Africa and Julius
Nyerere of Tanzania.
With these models, Jansen echoed that we now know-that leadership is not a position that is
held but and influence that is felt. We know that leadership is distributed across an organisation
and not some mystical power locked up in a powerful individual. We know that leadership is
not simply a technical set of skills exercised by a brainy leader, but also an emotional
disposition that influences human behaviour for good. And finally we know that sustainable
productivity and performance result from persuasive power of leadership rather than coercive
instruments of authority (Jansen 2009).
Zyl etal (2009), pointed out that leaders have existed throughout the history of mankind, all
societies have leaders. Some became leaders as a result of heredity and others through acts of
war. In the context of African leadership, many came through a democratic process of elections
and they want the ICC to transform. In their current impasse with the ICC, they acted like
transformational leaders.
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In Zyl etal, transformational leadership, however, seeks to change the status –quo by:
appealing to followers’ values and their sense of higher purpose, reframing issues so that they
align with the leaders’ vision and the followers’ values, and operating at a higher stage of moral
development than their followers (Burs 1978 and Spears 1997).
Another perspective on leadership, one which has been adopted in the not-for-profit sector and
appears to be of increasing interest in today’s business environment is servant leadership. These
leaders lead because they want to serve others. People follow servant leaders freely because
they trust them. The test of servant leadership is whether those served grow as people
(Greenleaf in Zyl etal 2009). Again, given this perspective, does the African Union grouping
possess servant leaders?
Another significance of leadership subscribed by Zyl etal (2009) is organic/ social capital
leadership. Avery in Zyl etal, indicated that the main task of the 21st century leader is to build
social capital in organisations (in other words, build relations that are based on trust, loyalty,
connectivity and communication, both inside and outside the organisation). These kind of
leaders see themselves as being in the centre, reaching out rather than down. They facilitate
change, recognising that much of it must be driven by others. So there appear to be leadership
perspectives to suit all tastes and contexts, Zyl etal observed.
One useful way to gain an understanding of leadership is to examine the roles carried out by
leaders. A role in this context is an expected set of activities or behaviour stemming from one’s
job or position.Zyl etal outlined the role and tasks of leaders as including:

Creating a vision, direction, and goals,

Communicating with followers,

Motivating and empowering,

Affirming and reaffirming values,

Aligning people, management of meaning and achieving workable unity,

Serving as a symbol,

Management of trust, and

Management of self.
So whilst there are leadership perspectives to suit all tastes and contexts, there appears to be a
growing consensus about some of the things that effective leadership do. They;

Focus attention through compelling vision,
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
Communicate meaning to their followers,

Develop trust through reliability and integrity, and

Manage themselves through self-awareness and positive self-regard.
Gardner (1990), as cited in Zyl etal, in his book On Leadership, identifies what he believes to
be the tasks and roles of leaders. It is argued that these are worth thinking in the African context.
Do all these roles need to be fulfilled? If so, the journey of effective leadership is by identifying
the most appropriate ways of understanding these various roles as outlined below and examine
whether our African leaders are effectively practicing these roles in order to avoid the trap of
the ICC and the United Nations Security Council.

Envisioning goals. Leaders look into the future. They can create a vision, identify goals
or provide solutions to problems. They can see things that others cannot see. They
provide a focus which unites various individuals and groups in action

Affirming values. Articulating values is a very important role of leaders. They revitalise
shared beliefs and values. Each generation must rediscover the living elements in their
own tradition and adapt these to current realities. This is particularly important in Africa
where many societies are rushing from tribal to industrial and post-industrial societies
over very short periods of time.

Motivating. Different individuals and groups are motivated by many different things.
Effective leaders identify those motives that can assist with collective action in pursuit
of shared goals

Managing. For goals to be achieved both leadership and management are required and
if the leader does not manage, he or she must ensure that someone else does.

Achieving workable unity. In most modern situations there are many different purposes
and many different ways of doing things. One of the greatest challenges for leaders is
to reduce conflict and develop a level of mutual tolerance. This requires to have the
capacity to inspire trust in themselves.

Explaining. This may seem self-evident, but it is critical that leaders explain what they
want and why.

Serving as a symbol. This perhaps the most obvious role of leaders. However, it can
create a heavy burden for leaders. Everything they do, whether related to their position
as leader or not, will be a reflection of their leadership and the group that they lead.
Expectations will be high-and unavoidable.
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
Representing the group. Virtually all leaders, wherever they are in the organisation,
have tasks that involve dealing with external groups, be these negotiations, public
relations or defending the integrity or activities of the group.

Renewing. Leaders must foster the process of renewal, challenge the status quo and
encourage responsiveness to change.
Finally a definition of what leaders do was put forward by John Kotter (1990), it (leadership)
produces movement. He observed that throughout the ages, individuals who have been seen as
leaders have created change, sometimes for the better and sometimes not. They have done so
in a variety of ways, though their actions often seem to boil down to establishing where a group
of people should go, getting them lined up in that direction and committed to movement, and
then energizing them to overcome the inevitable obstacles they will encounter along the way
(Kotter 1990).
The outlined definitions and roles and significance of leadership offers Africa leaders a
framework for developing their own ‘ways’- ways that work in wide variety of social,
organisational and cultural contexts in Africa. As such this paper moves on to find out areas of
conflict between the ICC and AU-member states. This entails looking at the main possible
areas of conflict namely democracy, governance and human and peoples’ rights issues and
examining the following concepts and their application and implications in Africa:
4. Democracy
It has been alleged that, in many African countries, lack of democracy is a major concern and
a serious source of conflicts leading to civil wars and human massacres.
Wikipedia define democracy as a system involving distribution of political power in the hands
of the public which forms the electorate, representative government, and freedom of speech.
Democracy is a form of government in which all eligible citizens are meant to participate
equally either directly or, through elected representatives, indirectly---in the proposal
development and establishment of the laws by which their society is run (Wilson 2006). Barker
(1906) observed that democracy contracts with the form of government where power is either
held by a small number of individuals, as in an absolute monarchy, or where power is held by
a small number of individuals, as in an oligarchy (government by the few). According to Barker
these oppositions, inherited from Greek philosophy, are now ambiguous because contemporary
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governments have mixed democratic, oligarchic and monarchic elements, for example in
Africa.
United States of America president Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) defined democracy as:
“Government of the people, by the people, for the people”. For Hague and Harrop (2001),
democracy is a form of government offering a workable solution to the fundamental political
problem of reaching collective decisions by peaceful means. But went further to say democracy
is also an ideal and an aspiration. So we cannot understand democracy simply by looking at
examples for judged against the democratic ideal even the most secure ‘democracies’ are found
wanting.
Hague and Harrop (2001) classified governments into three categories .as follows;
Type of government
Established(consolidated
democracy)
New democracy
Authoritarian rule
Central characteristic
Representative and limited
government
operating
through law provides an
accepted framework for
political competition
Representative institutions
are adopted but the influence
of pre-democratic regimes
and traditions is still felt.
Law,
tolerance
of
opposition, media freedom,
individual rights and a
market economy are not
fully entrenched
Rulers stand above the law
and are free from effective
popular accountability. The
media are controlled or
cowed.
Political
participation is usually
limited and discouraged
Examples
Australia,
Canada,France,Germany,Inadia,Italy,Netherlands,New
Zealand,Norway,Sweden,United Kingdom
Many post communist in East Europe and many
postmilitary states in Africa and Latin America
The most common form of rule in history. Examples
include military governments, ruling monarchies and
postcommunist regimes in central Asia where elections
do little more than ratify the president’s existing
personal power base
Hague and Harrop (2001) argued that in an established or consolidated democracy, the voters’
verdict is the accepted method of changing rulers. Elections themselves are free and fair, and
the constitution written or unwritten, provides an accepted framework for political competition.
In essence, democracy is taken for granted. By contrast, in a new democracy, the new regime
has not become the only game in town. Elections may deliver a government but its authority
remains contested. Traditional power-holders- generals, bureaucrats, party bosses or even
religious leaders-seek to protect their old privileges. Even elected politicians may not operate
within the rule of law. Hague and Harrop, pointed out that this category of new democracy is
particularly current because of the collapse of military and communist rule in the final decades
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of the twentieth century, yielding a considerable number of new democracies whose practical
operation still reflects a non-democratic past.
It is crucial to recognize that no law dictates that all new democracies must grow into
established democracies. They echoed that ‘backsliding’ is not unknown, as with the collapse
of the Weimar Republic in Germany in the 1930, or the occasional military coups which still
occur in Africa. (Hague and Harrop 2001) certainly, ‘new democracy’ is a temporary
designation; a country cannot be a new democracy forever.
The writer is of the opinion that, Africa require an additional term to cover countries where
democratic consolidation does not seem to exist or stall, yet without a reversal to authoritarian
government. Here, we can usefully speak of semi-democracy: coined by Hague and Harrop as
‘a half-way house between democracy and authoritarianism in which both principles co-exist
in a continuing and sometimes stable balance. In some African countries democracy is just a
common concept not worth practising unless one is persuaded or forced to do so.
In conclusion, democracy is by far the most challenging form of government, both for
politicians and for the people (Hague and Harrop 2001).
5. Democracy- Key Elements
In order to deserve the label modern democracy, a country needs to fulfil some basic
requirements-and they need not only be written down in its constitution but must be kept up in
everyday life by politicians and authorities:
 Guarantee of basic Human Rights to every individual person vis-à-vis the state and its
authorities as well as vis-à-vis any social groups (especially religious institutions) and
vis-à-vis other persons.
 Separation of powers between the institutions of the state: (government; executive
power), (Parliament; legislative power), and (Courts of law; Judicative power).
 Freedom of opinion, speech, press and mass media
 Religious liberty
 General and equal right to vote (one person , one vote)
 Good governance (focus on public interest and absence of corruption)
Churchill on democracy, said; “No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed,
it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms
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that have been tried from time to time”. This famous quote attributed to the former British
Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965) focuses right on the weak spot of
democracy.
There is no such thing as the ‘perfect form of government’ on earth, but any other form of
government produces even less desirable results than democracy (Churchill 1961). Until today,
no other form of government has been invented that could regulate public affairs better than
democracy.
6. Governance
Another source of concern and cause of conflicts in Africa is poor governance or lack of it.
Kaufman,Kraay and Zoido-Lobaton (1999), define governance as the traditions and institutions
by which authority in a country is exercised. Kaufman etal further highlighted dimensions of
governance, they singled out: graft, rule of law, and government effectiveness as fundamental
aspects of governance. Other dimensions are: voice and accountability, political instability and
violence, and regulatory burden.
For the World Bank’s Handbook (1993), governance is the way “power is exercised through a
country’s economic, political, and social institutions. The dimension of governance as per
World Bank, centre around property rights and rule-based governance: the quality of budgetary
and financial management; the efficiency of revenue mobilization; the efficiency of public
expenditures; and transparency, accountability and corruption (World Bank CPIA indicators).
While the World Bank and UNDP (2010) define it as ‘the exercise of economic , political, and
administrative authority to manage a country’s affairs at all levels and it comprises
mechanisms, processes, and institutions through which citizens and groups articulate their
interests, exercise their legal rights, meet their obligations, and mediate their differences”.
7. Good Governance
The definitions of good governance goes further than mechanisms and proposes that good
governance be equated with specific outcomes (UNDP 2010).It says it is among other things
participatory, transparent and accountable; it is also effective and equitable, and it promotes
the rule of law. Good governance encompasses the role of public authorities in establishing the
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environment in which economic operators function and in determining the distribution of
benefits as well as the relationship between the ruler and the ruled (OECD ww.oecd.org/dac/).
It is epitomized by predictable, open and enlightened policy making; a bureaucracy imbued
with a professional ethos: an executive arm of government accountable for its actions’ and a
strong civil society participation in public affairs, and all behaving under the rule of law (Word
Bank 1994)
World Bank (2002) argue that good governance consists of 5 key dimensions namely:

The structure of government. We look at the legal and practical separation of executive,
legislative, and judicial powers and the central bank (including how such separation has
been achieved).

The structure of the accountability and contestability of political leaders. We look at
the quality of public policies designed by political leaders as one measure of the quality
of governance and policy choices depend in part on the degree to which leaders are held
to account.

Public sector management. We look at the comportment and effectiveness of civil
servants in managing public resources, carrying out regulatory functions, and generally
implementing public policy are key determinants of the quality of governance.

Open entry and competition in the private sector. The essential issue is the degree to
which the government systems allows, or prevents, a limited business elite to
consolidate economic power that it then transforms into political power, including the
influencing officials and laws in ways that further consolidate and protect its economic
power.

The nexus of issues dealing with civil society, voice and participation.
If some African states employ these elements in the way they govern, this will help to narrow
areas of possible conflicts.
8. Human Rights
Another critical and fundamental cause of chaos is the degree of human rights abuses in Africa
that has caused lack of trust of African governments.
According to the Charter of the United Nations and The Universal Declaration of Human
Rights ( UDHR 1945), human rights refers to the basic rights and freedoms to which all
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humans are entitled, often held to include the right to life and liberty, freedom of thought and
expression, and equality before the law. Human rights are the foundation of human existence
and coexistence. They are universal, invisible and independent. Human rights are recognised
as fundamental by the United Nations and, as such, feature prominently in the preamble of the
Charter of the United Nations; ‘to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity,
and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and
small’.
9. Charter of the United Nations and The Universal Declaration of Human
Rights
The United Nations is the only international entity with jurisdiction for universal human rights
legislation. The UN legislation contains the following:

Security rights- that prohibit crimes such as murder/’enforced’ involuntary suicide,
massacre, torture and rape,

Liberty rights- that protects freedoms in areas such as belief and religion, association,
assembling and movement,

Political rights- that protect the liberty to participate in politics by expressing
themselves, protesting, participating in a republic,

Due process rights-that protect against abuses of the legal system such as imprisonment
without trail, secret trails and excessive punishments,

Equality rights-that guarantee equal citizenship, equality before the law and nondiscrimination,

Welfare rights-(also known as economic rights) that require the provision of ,e.g.
education, paid holidays, and protections against severe poverty and starvation,

Group rights- that provides protection for groups against ethnic genocide and for the
ownership by countries of their national territories and resources.
The United Nations is an International organisation whose stated aims are to facilitate
cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, and social
progress and human rights issues. The pursuit for human rights was a central reason for its
creation. It was founded in 1945 and began with fifty countries signing the UN Charter. As of
2007 there were 192 Un member states, encompassing almost every recognised independent
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state. The UN charter oblige all member nations to promote “universal respect for, and
observance of human rights’ and take joint and separate action to that end.
10. The Constitutive Act, Human and Peoples’ Rights Charter of The African
Union.
The Constitutive Act of the AU was adopted by the 36 Ordinary Session of the Assembly of
Heads of States and Governments on 11 July 2000 in Lome-Togo. Article 3 of African Union
Convention on Preventing and combating corruption states that: The state parties to this
convention undertake to abide by the following principles;
1) Respect for democratic principles and institutions, popular participation, the rule of law
and good governance,
2) Respect for human and people’s rights in accordance with the African charter on
Human and Peoples’ Rights and other relevant human rights instruments,
3) Transparency and accountability in the management of public affairs,
4) Promotion of social justice to ensure balanced socio-economic development, and
5) Condemnation and rejection of acts of corruption related offences and impunity
The African Union convention further state that; AU uphold the principle of good governance
and respect for fundamental rights and freedom are prerequisites for sustainable human
development. As such the AU members agreed to emphasise governance and human rights
issues in order to promote economic recovery in the short run and sustainable and equitable
human development in the long run.
If one may ask, as signatories to this charter, how many African countries are observing the
contents of this charter and why then are they afraid of its enforcement by an international court
which uphold the same values Africa stated in its charter?
The social, economic and political context of the past decade in Africa has necessitated
considerable outlay towards strengthening the regional architecture for public service and
justice delivery, rule of law and fundamental freedoms, as well as participatory democratic
approaches for the people of Africa.
As such the United Nations in Africa has articulated its support around four main outcomes:
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1) Improved justice delivery system and rule of law,
2) Strengthened mechanisms for peace-building and for the prevention, management and
resolution of conflict,
3) Enhanced accountability in the management of public resources and service delivery,
and
4) Enhanced people’s participation in democratic governance structures and processes
These outcome areas are directly linked to the Millenium Declaration, and ensuring good
governance and respect for human rights. Situations of serious or massive violations of human
rights are no longer purely of domestic concern, and sovereignty can no longer be an absolute
shield for repressive governments in such circumstances (Kuwali 2010).
Based on this realization, the international community has recognized a responsibility to
protect individuals in states where their governments are unable or unwilling to provide
protection against the most serious violations. Kuwali (2010) observed that, so far only one
intergovernmental organisation, the African Union (AU) has explicitly made the right to
intervene in a member state as part of its foundational text in Article 4(h) of its Constitutive
Act. Kuwali noted, although Article 4(h) is noble in purpose, its implementation faces several
legal and policy challenges given that the use of force penetrates the principles of state
sovereignty and non-intervention—the very cornerstones upon which the AU was founded.
Given the Kenyan president’s fate, and the massacres that took place during his campaigns for
the higher office and post-election period, was AU not yet ready to intervene or to cooperate
with the international community to identify the culprits other than wait for the International
Criminal Court (ICC) to use its long hand?
11. The International Criminal Court
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is the first ever permanent, treaty-based, international
criminal court. It is an intergovernmental organisation and international tribunal that began to
function on 1st July 2002 and it sits in The Hague in the Netherlands. One of the objectives of
the ICC is to judge political leaders accused of international crimes. The ICC is a court of last
resort. It will not act if a case is investigated or prosecuted by a national judicial system unless
the national proceedings are not genuine, for example, if formal proceedings were undertaken
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solely to shield a person from criminal responsibility. In addition, the ICC only tries those
accused of the gravest crimes.
The ICC has the jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for the international crimes of genocide,
crimes against humanity, and war crimes and it may one day be able to exercise jurisdiction
over the crime of aggression. The membership of the ICC is voluntary and once a state
becomes a member of ICC, it is bound by its principles. In Africa only 19-+ are members. In
the West, USA is not a member and In Asia China is not a member (just to mention but a few).
These non-members cited various reasons for being not members. However, a non-member
who commits an act of genocide or serious crimes as classified by the ICC charter can by dealt
with by the United Nations Security Council.
Article 7 of the ICC charter defines crimes against humanity as acts committed as part of a
widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population,( like what happened
in Kenya) with knowledge of the attack( Rome State , Article 7). The article lists 16 such as
individual crimes as follows:
11.1 Crimes against humanity;
These are; murder, extermination ,enslavement, deportation or forcible transfer of population,
imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty, torture, rape, sexual slavery,
enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilisation, persecution, enforced
disappearance of persons, apartheid and other inhuman cats.
11.2 War crimes:
These are ; wilful killing, torture, inhuman treatment, biological experiments, wilfully causing
great suffering, destruction and appropriation of property, compelling service in hostile forces,
denying a fair trial, unlawful deportation and transfer, unlawful confinement and taking
hostages.
12. Criticism against the ICC
Critics of the court argue that there are insufficient checks and balances on the authority of the
International Criminal Court prosecutor and judges and ‘insufficient protection against
politized prosecutions or other abuses.
The ICC has been widely accused of bias and as being a tool of western imperialism, only
punishing leaders from small, weak states while ignoring crimes committed by richer and
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powerful states (http//.www. reuters.com/articles/2011/01/30/oztp-Africa icc). This sentiment
has been expressed particularly by African leaders due to the perceived disproportionate focus
of the court on Africa, while claiming to have a global mandate. To date all eight cases which
the ICC has investigated are in African countries (African and the ICC: A drag net that catches
only small fish - Nehanda Radio by William Muchayi 24/9/13).
The Herald of 17 October 2014 published a story headlined: “Western media and collective
amnesia “in which it quote an Israeli author as follows: According to Israeli author Moshe
Leshem, the expansion of Israel power is commensurate with the expansion of the “Holocaust”
propaganda. Last month the Russell Tribunal (comprised of international law experts)
announced that Israel was guilty of “ incitement to genocide” and that Israel’s long-term
collective punishment of Palestinians seemed to be designed to inflict conditions of life
calculated to bring about the incremental destruction of the Palestinians as a group” It went on
to say “Despite that announcement of what has been obvious for decades (not short-term
occupation, but long-term extermination) , the International Criminal Court has maintained its
usual avoidance of pursuing the big fish—like Henry Kissinger, George Bush, Dick Cheney,
Tony Blair , Barack Obama, and many others including equally indictable Israel leaders such
as Benjamin Netanyahu—while concentrating on minnows like Kenya’s President Uhuru
Kenyatta who became the first sitting head of state to appear before the ICC on charges of
crimes against humanity for his alleged role in unleashing a wave of post-election violence
during 2007-08 (Global Research 2013).
13. African Union Withdrawal Proposal
On African Union withdrawal proposal, the South African President Jacob Zuma (2013) said
the perceptions of the ICC as “unreasonable” led to the calling of the special AU summit on 13
October 2013. At the summit, the AU did not endorse the proposal for a mass withdrawal from
the ICC due to lack of support for the idea. However the summit concluded that serving heads
of state should not be put on trial and that the Kenyan cases be deferred.
Despite these calls the ICC went ahead with requiring William Ruto to attend his trial. The
United Nations Security Council was then asked to consider deferring the trials of Kenyatta
and Ruto for a year, but this was rejected.
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14. Conclusion
The majority of AU members are not members of the ICC and that they are bound by the United
Nations Security Council Charter for grievous acts against humanity irrespective of one being
a member or not and that there are different types of governments in Africa ranging from New
democracy to authoritarian with different values and different governance records. Also, there
is a tendency of members in highly cohesive groups to lose their critical evaluative capabilities
and end up support evil actions by a fellow African state. The basic idea behind group think is
that individuals choose to minimise conflict within the group by striving for consensus in
decision making without going through all of the elements of rational- comprehensive model
of critically questioning and examining the objectives, means, and alternatives to the decision
at hand (Janis as cited in Rosenbloom 2009).
To some African states, whose records of human and peoples’ rights violation are a public
knowledge, the withdrawal could be seen as a political strategy of protectionism which allows
impunity in many African countries to go unchecked despite being signatories to charters and
Conventions on democracy, human rights and good governance.
Guided by the International Conventions on Human and Peoples’ Rights as well as AU
Constitutive Act, the proposal for withdrawal from the ICC by AU-member states was a group
decision which lacked merit hence the proposal’s lack of support. Fate is our guidance.
17
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