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Uganda’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Sam Kutesa has said that during the 28th session of the African UNION Assembly that sat in Addis Ababa last week, African countries agreed to withdraw from the International Criminal Court.
Addressing journalists in Kampala on Friday, Kutesa, a former president of the United Nations said that heads of state at the assembly in Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa reiterated the need to withdraw from the court and form one for Africans.
“They agreed to ratify the Maputo Declaration and empower the African Court of Justice to be able to try violators of human rights on the African continent,” Kutesa told journalists.
He said that African countries agreed to leave the ICC not at once but individually by the respective countries, adding that the withdraw of Gambia, South African and Burundi were welcomed warmly.
Incompetent
Speaking with vast experience after having served at the UN President, Uganda’s Foreign Affairs Minister said that the International Criminal Court cannot be relied on because it is inefficient in the way it does its work.
“Every year, countries contribute over 180 US Dollars for the court but for the 12 years it has been in existence, it has only tried 4 cases. This means people can spend over 10 years without being tried which is not fine,” Kutesa said.
According to the Foreign Affairs Minister there is need for adoption of an African court of justice that is stronger and would be to administer justice other than the ‘discriminatory’ ICC.
Asked to comment on whether the country made a mistake joining the court and the recent endorsement of a Ugandan judge to be part of the panel at the ICC, Kutesa said that the country will continue to be a member until the African court is put in place.
“ I don’t think we made a mistake joining but it is the ICC that made a mistake because what we were looking for was an efficient, fair and international institution that would administer justice but what is happening is otherwise.”
“ICC is currently discriminatory in the way they administer their justice and have become a political tool and inefficient,” he retorted.
During his swearing –in ceremony last year, President Museveni also criticized the ICC before describing the court based in The Hague as “a bunch of useless people”.
He said he no longer supports the court as he used to do in its earlier days for losing its original track.
