ICC na watawala wa Afrika

mnyamiwono · Oct 11, 2013

Habari ndugu wanajamvi!

Naamini kabisa mko safi na imara kabisa katika ujenzi wa Taifa hili, hongereni saana!

Naomba sasa tujadili uzi huu kwa manufaa ya Taifa letu na Afrika kwa ujumla kama tulivyozoea kuimba Mungu ibariki Afrika ,Mungu ibariki Tanzania.

Hivi karibuni kumekuwa na taarifa nyingi katika vyombo vya habari na kwa watawala wenyewe wa Afrika wakidai eti mahakama ya ICC inawaonea viongozi wa Afrika na inavyosemekana kuanzia kesho jumamosi na jumapili wanakutana addis ababa ,Ethiopia.

Moja ya ajenda muhimu ni kuujadili mkataba wa ROMA na kuona ni jinsi gani ya kujitoa kama wanachama wa ICC kwa ujumla wao.

Sasa hebu tujiulize watawala hawa wanaitakia mema Afrika ya waafrika kweli?

Mbona wanahofu na mahakama hii pasipokutueleza kuwa mahakama hii ilimuonea mtu Fulani au kiongozi Fulani wa Afrika?

Kagame, amseveni, Kenyatta, Mugabe, Albashiri ndio wanaoonekana vinara wa mpango huu, sasa tujiulize kuna nini nyuma ya pazia la utawala wao?

Hivi wanataka kutowajibika popote endapo watatenda makosa ya uvunjaji wa haki za kibinadamu katika nchi zao?,na pia kwa kufanya hivo watawaliwa watakuwa wanatendewa haki kweli?

Kwani kwa mtazamo wa kawaida ICC ni mtetezi wa wanyonge na wahanga wa vita vya kiutawala barani Afrika.

USHAURI WANGU:

Watawala hawa waachane na mjadala huo kwani hauna tija kwa watawaliwa wa Afrika,zaidi wajadili namna ya kufuta mikataba ya kibepari yenye kuiba maliasili kutoka Afrika ikiwemo Tanzania ili kuwaletea wananchi wao Ustawi katika maisha yao.

KARIBUNI WANAJAMVI!.

General Solution · Oct 11, 2013

mnyamiwono said:
Habari ndugu wanajamvi! Naamini kabisa mko safi na imara kabisa katika ujenzi wa Taifa hili, hongereni saana! Naomba sasa tujadili uzi huu kwa manufaa ya Taifa letu na Afrika kwa ujumla kama tulivyozoea kuimba Mungu ibariki Afrika ,Mungu ibariki Tanzania. Hivi karibuni kumekuwa na taarifa nyingi katika vyombo vya habari na kwa watawala wenyewe wa Afrika wakidai eti mahakama ya ICC inawaonea viongozi wa Afrika na inavyosemekana kuanzia kesho jumamosi na jumapili wanakutana addis ababa ,Ethiopia moja ya ajenda muhimu ni kuujadili mkataba wa ROMA na kuona ni jinsi gani ya kujitoa kama wanachama wa ICC kwa ujumla wao.....sasa hebu tujiulize watawala hawa wanaitakia mema Afrika ya waafrika kweli? Mbona wanahofu na mahakama hii pasipokutueleza kuwa mahakama hii ilimuonea mtu Fulani au kiongozi Fulani wa Afrika? Kagame, amseveni, Kenyatta, Mugabe, Albashiri ndio wanaoonekana vinara wa mpango huu, sasa tujiulize kuna nini nyuma ya pazia la utawala wao?...........Hivi wanataka kutowajibika popote endapo watatenda makosa ya uvunjaji wa haki za kibinadamu katika nchi zao?........na pia kwakufanya hivo watawaliwa watakuwa wanatendewa haki kweli?..........kwani kwa mtazamo wa kawaida ICC ni mtetezi wa wanyonge na wahanga wa vita vya kiutawala barani Afrika. USHAURI WANGU: Watawala hawa waachane na mjadala huo kwani hauna tija kwa watawalwa wa Afrika......zaidi wajadili namna ya kufuta mikataba ya kibepari yenye kuiba maliasili kutoka Afrika ikiwemo Tanzania ili kuwaletea wananchi wao Ustawi katika maisha yao...................................KARIBUNI WANAJAMVI!

Hili suala jinsi linavyoendeshwa haiingii akilini kwa mtu yoyote yule mwenye akili timamu. nashindwa kuelewa,hivi hapa kinachoogopwa ni nini. Hivi kama mtu anatuhumiwa na kosa lolote na kwa bahati nzuri anatakiwa akapewe muda wa kusikilizwa na competente court in my view solution ni kwenda na ku-clear jina lake napindi akionekana hana hatia basi anakuwa amejisafisha hata mbele ya jamii inayomzunguka. Kitendo cha kuogopa kwenda mahakamani na kutoa sababu za kiujanja ujanja kunazua maswali mengi hadi kufikia kuamini kuwa hizo allegations zina ukweli ndani yake. Suala la kujiuliza ni kwamba je,Kenyatta asingeupata urais wa Kenya,bado angekataa kwenda ICC? Hapa jibu lipo wazi kuwa asingeweza kukataa maana ingekuwa pia ni rahisi ku-issue arrest warrant na angekamatwa kama mtu wa kawaida. Ni wazi kuwa anataka kutumia kinga ya urais kukataa kwenda mbele ya haki. Ikumbukwe pia kuwa makosa anayotuhumiwa nayo yalitendeka wakati bado hajawa rais. viongozi wa kenya wanasikika wakisema kuwa vijana wao hawawezi kusikiliziwa kesi zao nje ya kenya. Swali hapa ni je,wakati wanasain mkataba wa Roma unaounda mahakama hio walijua wazi kuwa mahakama hio haipo kenya hivyo hata kama kunamtuhumiwa mkenya walijua tangu mwanzo kuwa angepelekwa ICC na hakukuwa na tatizo. Why now...? Ok,sababu zote walizoziona wakatiwanasain mkataba ule,leo zinaonekana hazina maana kwa kuwa viongozi wao ni victims...? na je,ingekuwa kati ya watuhumiwa wote hakuna viongozi wa kuu yaani ni raia wa kawaida,bado wangehitaji kujitoa? Ukiwaangalia Kenyatta,Kagame,Mugabe,Museveni na Al Bashiir wote wanafanana kwa namna fulani ki utawala wao. AU wanatakiwa kuwa makini sana wasije wakaingizwa kwenye mchezo wasioujua...

Mpeni sifa Yesu · Oct 12, 2013

Ajabu yake ni kwamba, viongozi/marais tu wa kiafrica ndio hawaitaki ICC, wananchi karibia wote wanaipenda, sasa sijui hao viongozi wanamuwakilisha nani kwenye kukataa icc. ajabu kweli viongozi wa africa, ni aibu kubwa mno.

mbwigule · Oct 12, 2013

kitendo cha viongozi wa bara hili eti kupitisha hoja ya kuzitenga nchi zao na ICC ni cha aibu na cha kukemewa na kila aliye mwafrika. Kwa kifupi viongozi wengi wa kiafrika ni madikteta, majambazi, wagandamizaji wa haki za raia wao, wauaji na ni kama genge la wahalifu wanaojaribu kujiwekea wigo wa kuikwepa hukumu.
Wanalalama eti wanaandamwa wakati baadhi yao wenyewe ndiyo wamejisajili kule! Haiingii akilini hata chembe kwa raia mwema asiye na hatia na aliyesingiziwa jambo kugwaya kwenda mahakamani!
Genge la wahuni hawa wasio na haya wala soni wanalalamika eti wanaandamwa wenyewe tu wakati wenzao wa nchi za magharibi wana mifumo yao imara ya kuwawajibisha wanapokosa kama ilivyotokea mara kadhaa kule Japani, Ufaransa, Italia ambako karibuni tu muhuni anayefanana na manyang'au yetu haya alikiona cha moto; jambo ambalo ni ndoto kutokea katika nchi zetu hizi!
Njia ya pekee ya kuwaadabisha wahalifu hawa ni kuwakatia kabisa misaada ili serikali zao za kihuni zikose pumzi na kuangukia pua.
Narudia tena na tena kinachofanywa kule Adis Ababa ni ubakaji wa haki zetu na wahuni na wahalifu tuliowakabidhi dhamana ya kutuongoza.

Mpeni sifa Yesu · Oct 12, 2013

mbwigule said:
kitendo cha viongozi wa bara hili eti kupitisha hoja ya kuzitenga nchi zao na ICC ni cha aibu na cha kukemewa na kila aliye mwafrika. Kwa kifupi viongozi wengi wa kiafrika ni madikteta, majambazi, wagandamizaji wa haki za raia wao, wauaji na ni kama genge la wahalifu wanaojaribu kujiwekea wigo wa kuikwepa hukumu.
Wanalalama eti wanaandamwa wakati baadhi yao wenyewe ndiyo wamejisajili kule! Haiingii akilini hata chembe kwa raia mwema asiye na hatia na aliyesingiziwa jambo kugwaya kwenda mahakamani!
Genge la wahuni hawa wasio na haya wala soni wanalalamika eti wanaandamwa wenyewe tu wakati wenzao wa nchi za magharibi wana mifumo yao imara ya kuwawajibisha wanapokosa kama ilivyotokea mara kadhaa kule Japani, Ufaransa, Italia ambako karibuni tu muhuni anayefanana na manyang'au yetu haya alikiona cha moto; jambo ambalo ni ndoto kutokea katika nchi zetu hizi!
Njia ya pekee ya kuwaadabisha wahalifu hawa ni kuwakatia kabisa misaada ili serikali zao za kihuni zikose pumzi na kuangukia pua.
Narudia tena na tena kinachofanywa kule Adis Ababa ni ubakaji wa haki zetu na wahuni na wahalifu tuliowakabidhi dhamana ya kutuongoza.

ajabu ni kwamba, hata wakijiondoa bado wanashitakika tu ICC, arrest warrant zitatolewa tu hivyo hawatakuwa wamekwepa chochote. ni aibu sana kwa africa kujitoa icc, tutadharaulika mno.

Zipapa zipapa · Oct 12, 2013

Mpeni sifa Yesu said:
ajabu ni kwamba, hata wakijiondoa bado wanashitakika tu ICC, arrest warrant zitatolewa tu hivyo hawatakuwa wamekwepa chochote. ni aibu sana kwa africa kujitoa icc, tutadharaulika mno.

Utadharaulika na nani mkuu? Tatizo hii mahakama inabagua mataifa na nchi za kufuatilia. Waende Uingereza na Marekani wakafanye hivyo hivyo hakuna hata mtu atakayewaonyeshea kidole

Mpeni sifa Yesu · Oct 12, 2013

Zipapa zipapa said:
Utadharaulika na nani mkuu? Tatizo hii mahakama inabagua mataifa na nchi za kufuatilia. Waende Uingereza na Marekani wakafanye hivyo hivyo hakuna hata mtu atakayewaonyeshea kidole

marekani na uingereza wamefanya nini?fafanua zaidi ili ujibiwe kulingana na vifungu vya sheria. walifanya makosa hayo lini na wapi, na ilikuwaje. unaposema africa ndio iko targeted, mbona karibia referrals zote kule zilipelekwa na waafrica wenyewe hiyo tu ya kenya ndio prosecutor suo motu alianzisha. pia, watu wanapelekwa pale kama kutakuwa na ushahidi kwamba wao wamevunja vifungu vya kwenye icc statute kwenye makosa yale matatu genocide, crimes against humanity na war crimes. kwa hao wamarekani ungeweza kuwakamata kwenye war crimes and crimes against humanity lakini wao wajanja, wanapigana vita kisomi sana kiasi kwamba wakiwa kwenye battle ground hawavunji sheria za kivita. kama ni kwenye crimes against humanity whether you mention afghanistan, maeneo yote yale wanaua raia, wale raia wanakuwa wamefanywa shield na taliban so they are not targeting civilians deliverately. hakuna kosa lolote walilovunja kwenye icc statute. ukija kwenye iraq war, ramsfed na bush walifanya makosa yale kabla icc statute haijawa in power hivyo hawashitakiki.

ukienda israel, maeneo yote wanapiga ndiko rocket zinakokuwa zinarushwa na ndiko combatants wao wanakuwa wamejificha, its justifiable kisheria collateral damage kama hizo.

Ndinani · Oct 12, 2013

Mpeni sifa Yesu said:
Ajabu yake ni kwamba, viongozi/marais tu wa kiafrica ndio hawaitaki ICC, wananchi karibia wote wanaipenda, sasa sijui hao viongozi wanamuwakilisha nani kwenye kukataa icc. ajabu kweli viongozi wa africa, ni aibu kubwa mno.

Kikwete na serikali yake wasijejiingiza kichwa kichwa kusaini makubaliano ya kujitoa kwenye Rome Statutes bila ya ridhaa ya waTanzania ambayo inaweza kupatikana kwa kura ya maoni ya wanannchi na sio kupitia bunge la magamba!!!Kuikataa mahakama ya ICC ni kuendeleza ufisadi wa watawala wa Afrika; na sisi nchini mwetu hatuna budi kupinga kujitoa huko ICC kwani huko ndiko liliko kimbilio letu la mwisho dhidi ya ufisadi.

Mkaruka · Oct 12, 2013

Africa nyeusi haijakombolewa!!leo viongozi wetu wanalalamika kwa kuwajibishwa kwao kutokana na kuua raia wasio na hatia!

Zipapa zipapa · Oct 12, 2013

Mpeni sifa Yesu said:
marekani na uingereza wamefanya nini?fafanua zaidi ili ujibiwe kulingana na vifungu vya sheria. walifanya makosa hayo lini na wapi, na ilikuwaje. unaposema africa ndio iko targeted, mbona karibia referrals zote kule zilipelekwa na waafrica wenyewe hiyo tu ya kenya ndio prosecutor suo motu alianzisha. pia, watu wanapelekwa pale kama kutakuwa na ushahidi kwamba wao wamevunja vifungu vya kwenye icc statute kwenye makosa yale matatu genocide, crimes against humanity na war crimes. kwa hao wamarekani ungeweza kuwakamata kwenye war crimes and crimes against humanity lakini wao wajanja, wanapigana vita kisomi sana kiasi kwamba wakiwa kwenye battle ground hawavunji sheria za kivita. kama ni kwenye crimes against humanity whether you mention afghanistan, maeneo yote yale wanaua raia, wale raia wanakuwa wamefanywa shield na taliban so they are not targeting civilians deliverately. hakuna kosa lolote walilovunja kwenye icc statute. ukija kwenye iraq war, ramsfed na bush walifanya makosa yale kabla icc statute haijawa in power hivyo hawashitakiki.

ukienda israel, maeneo yote wanapiga ndiko rocket zinakokuwa zinarushwa na ndiko combatants wao wanakuwa wamejificha, its justifiable kisheria collateral damage kama hizo.

Nisamehe kama sijakuelewa hapo mkuu ina maana Crime against humanity ukitumia usomi wako kuua iwe kwa AK47 au Grenade unakuwa umeua kisomi au aje? Hiyo mahakama ilipaswa kuwa kioo cha ustawishaji amani duniani. Hatutaki mambo ya usomi au nini kuua binadamu ni kuua kule kule.

Mshombsy · Oct 12, 2013

Mpeni sifa Yesu · Oct 12, 2013

Zipapa zipapa said:
Nisamehe kama sijakuelewa hapo mkuu ina maana Crime against humanity ukitumia usomi wako kuua iwe kwa AK47 au Grenade unakuwa umeua kisomi au aje? Hiyo mahakama ilipaswa kuwa kioo cha ustawishaji amani duniani. Hatutaki mambo ya usomi au nini kuua binadamu ni kuua kule kule.

mkuu, kuna sheria zinazoguide beligerence, zipo sheria kabisa zinazosimamia nini unaweza usifanye ukiwa kwenye uwanja wa mapambano. wamarekani na waislrael ndio wanafuata sheria hizo wakiwa uwanjani. kama wasingefuata wangeshashitakiwa kwa makosa ya kivita. sio kuua kote kutashitakika ICC, ni kuua kule tu ambako kuko na elements za makosa matatu (kwa sasa) ya icc statute. kama element za makosa hayo hazijakidhi mtu hawezi kushitakiwa pale. mojawapo ya makosa ya kivita ni kutumia raia kama cover/ngao wakati huohuo unawashambulia adui, usifikiri adui yako atanyamaza kimya kukushambulia palepale kwenye raia wakati wewe unaendelea kummaliza na ukiwa na ngao/cover ya raia. kwamfano; tz ikiwa inpigana na marekani, wanajeshi wa tz wakakaa pale manzese ddarajani wakawa wanashambulia majeshi ya marekani yaliyoko kibamba, usifikiri marekani itakubali imalizwe kwa kuogopa kupiga mazese wasijekupiga na wananchi. kuna mazingira wanaweza kushambulia hata maeneo ya raia. mfano wake ni yale yanayotokea gaza na afghanistan.

ili kosa la crime against humanity lishitakike, there need to bee "a widespread and systematic attack against civilian population", yaani mashambulizi kwa raia ambayo ni ya mpangilio/yalipangwa systematically na ni widespread (sio mauaji ya mtu mmojammoja tu, yawe halaiki). angalia kwenye allegation zako zote, unaweza kusema mashambulizi hayo yalikuwa widespread/halaiki and systematic/yalipangiliwa ili kosa la crime against humanity litimie?..utapata jibu mwenyewe.

kwa kumalizia, watu wengi wamesema ramsfed na bush walitakiwa kushitakiwa na icc kwa kushambulia iraq,wakati saddam anavamiwa, icc statute ilikuwa bado haijawa in power, na hata kama ingekuwa in power, crime of aggression ambayo ni moja ya makosa manne ya icc statute halijaanza kufanya kazi hadi mwaka 2017 kitakapokaliwa kikao kingine. kwasasaivi, nchi ikivamia nchi nyingine icc haina nguvu bado.

hata hivyo, ni discussion ndefu sana, siwezi kuelewesha sana, ni darasa refu sana.

MkamaP · Oct 12, 2013

Jamaa naona ametukana matusi yote, ila yuko sahihi sana, kama tungekuwa tunaheshimiana sisi kwa sisi kwanza.

Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta at the AU Special Head of States Summit Opened in Addis Ababa,Ethiopia October 12, 2013.
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SPEECH BY HIS EXCELLENCY HON. UHURU KENYATTA, C.G.H., PRESIDENT AND
COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF THE DEFENCE FORCES OF THE REPUBLIC OF KENYA AT THE
EXTRAORDINARY SESSION OF THE ASSEMBLY OF HEADS OF STATE AND GOVERNMENT OF
THE AFRICAN UNION, ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA, 12th OCTOBER, 2013

Chair of the African Union, Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn, Chair of the Commission of the African Union, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Colleagues Head of State and Government, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, It gives me special pleasure to join your Excellencies at this Special Summit, where we have assembled to reflect on very significant matters relating to the welfare and destiny of our nations and peoples.

I thank you for the honour of addressing you today, because as it happens, I crave my brother and sister Excellencies' views on some issues. We are privileged to lead the nations of a continent on the rise.

Africa rests at the centre of global focus as the continent of the future. Although we have been relentlessly exploited in the past, we remain with sufficient resources to invest in a prosperous future.

Whilst we have been divided and incited against one another before, we are now united and more peaceful.

Even as we grapple with a few regional conflicts, as Africans, we are taking proactive measures to ensure that all our people move together in the journey to prosperity in a peaceful home.

Even though we were dominated and controlled by imperialists and colonial interests in years gone by, we are now proud, independent and sovereign nations and people. We are looking to the future with hope, marching towards the horizon with confidence and working in unity.

This is the self evident promise that Africa holds for its people today. As leaders, we are the heirs of freedom fighters, and our founding fathers. These liberation heroes founded the Organisation of African Unity, which was dedicated to the eradication of ALL FORMS OF COLONIALSM.

Towards this end, the OAU defended the interests of independent nations and helped the cause of those that were still colonised. It sought to prevent member states from being controlled once again by outsider powers.

The founding fathers of African Unity were conscious that structural colonialism takes many forms, some blatant and extreme, like apartheid, while others are subtler and deceptively innocuous, like some forms of development assistance.

It has been necessary, therefore, for African leaders to constantly watch out against threats to our peoples' sovereignty and unity.

In our generation, we have honoured our fathers' legacies by guaranteeing that through the African Union, our countries and our people shall achieve greater unity, and that the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of our States shall not be trifled with.

More than ever, our destiny is in our hands. Yet at the same time, more than ever, it is imperative for us to be vigilant against the persistent machinations of outsiders who desire to control that destiny. We know what this does to our nations and people: subjugation and suffering.

Your Excellencies, The philosophies, ideologies, structures and institutions that visited misery upon millions for centuries ultimately harm their perpetrators. Thus the imperial exploiter crashes into the pits of penury. The arrogant world police is crippled by shambolic domestic dysfunction.

These are the spectacles of Western decline we are witnessing today. At the same time, other nations and continents rise and prosper. Africa and Asia continue to thrive, with their promise growing every passing day.

As our strength multiplies, and our unity gets deeper, those who want to control and exploit us become more desperate. Therefore, they abuse whatever power remains in their control.

The Swahili people say that one ascending a ladder cannot hold hands with one descending. The force of gravity will be compounded and the one going up only loses.

The International Criminal Court was mandated to accomplish these objectives by bringing to justice those criminal perpetrators who bear greatest responsibility for crimes.

Looking at the world in the past, at that time and even now, it was clear that there have always been instances of unconscionable impunity and atrocity that demand a concerted international response, and that there are vulnerable, helpless victims of these crimes who require justice as a matter of right.

This is the understanding, and the expectation of most signatories to the Rome Statute. The most active global powers of the time declined to ratify the Treaty, or withdrew somewhere along the way, citing several compelling grounds.

The British foreign secretary Robin Cook said at the time, that the International Criminal Court was not set up to bring to book Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom or Presidents of the United States. Had someone other than a Western leader said those fateful words, the word 'impunity' would have been thrown at them with an emphatic alacrity.

An American senator serving on the foreign relations committee echoed the British sentiments and said, "Our concern is that this is a court that is irreparably flawed, that is created with an independent prosecutor, with no checks and balances on his power, answerable to no state institution, and that this court is going to be used for politicized prosecutions."

The understanding of the States which subscribed to the Treaty in good faith was two-fold. First, that world powers were hesitant to a process that might make them accountable for such spectacularly criminal international adventures as the wars in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Afghanistan and other places, and such hideous enterprises as renditions and torture.

Such states did not, therefore, consider such warnings as applicable to pacific and friendly parties. Secondly, it was the understanding of good-faith subscribers that the ICC would administer and secure justice in a fair, impartial and independent manner and, as an international court, bring accountability to situations and perpetrators everywhere in the world. As well, it was hoped that the ICC would set the highest standards of justice and judicial processes.

Your Excellencies, As has been demonstrated quite thoroughly over the past decade, the good-faith subscribers had fallen prey to their high-mindedness and idealism. I do not need to tell your Excellencies about the nightmare my country in particular, and myself and my Deputy as individuals, have had to endure in making this realisation.

Western powers are the key drivers of the ICC process. They have used prosecutions as ruses and bait to pressure Kenyan leadership into adopting, or renouncing various positions. Close to 70 per cent of the Court's annual budget is funded by the European Union.

The threat of prosecution usually suffices to have pliant countries execute policies favourable to these countries.

Through it, regime-change sleights of hand have been attempted in Africa. A number of them have succeeded.

The Office of the Prosecutor made certain categorical pronouncements regarding eligibility for leadership of candidates in Kenya's last general election. Only a fortnight ago, the Prosecutor proposed undemocratic and unconstitutional adjustments to the Kenyan Presidency.

These interventions go beyond interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign State. They constitute a fetid insult to Kenya and Africa. African sovereignty means nothing to the ICC and its patrons. They also dovetail altogether too conveniently with the warnings given to Kenyans just before the last elections: choices have consequences.

This chorus was led by the USA, Britain, EU, and certain eminent persons in global affairs. It was a threat made to Kenyans against electing my Government. My Government's decisive election must be seen as a categorical rebuke by the people of Kenya of those who wished to interfere with our internal affairs and infringe our sovereignty.

Now Kenya has undergone numerous problems since its birth as a Republic 50 years ago. Yet over the same period, Kenya has also made tremendous progress. It is the same in all countries of Africa. At our Golden Jubilee, we look forward to a rebirth characterising the next 50 years, not a ceaseless harkening to our history.

I must make the point that we do not intend to forget, or discount the value of our history. Rather, we do want to learn from it, not live in it. As Kenya's President, it gives me a feeling of deep and lasting pride to know that I can count on the African Union to listen and help in trying times. Africa has always stood by our side.

When we faced violent disagreements over the 2007 election result, my distinguished predecessor, Mwai Kibaki came to you with a request for help, and you did not stint. You instituted a high-level team of Eminent Persons who came to our assistance.

Because of that, we were able to summon the confidence to speak to each other and agree. As a result, we put in place a 4-point plan, which not only put Kenya back on track, but formed the basis of the most rapid political, legal and social reform ever witnessed in our country.

Through it, we successfully mediated the dispute surrounding the 2007 election and pacified the country. A power-sharing coalition was formed with a mandate to undertake far-reaching measures to prevent future violent disputes, entrench the rule of law, prevent abuses of legal power and entrench equity in our body politic while also securing justice for the victims of the post-election violence.

We enacted a new, progressive constitution which instituted Devolution of power and resources, strengthened the protection of fundamental rights, and enhanced institutional and political checks and balances. It also provided the legal foundation for the national economic transformation roadmap, Vision 2030.

The project of national transformation presently underway in Kenya was given tremendous impetus by your Excellencies' needful intervention. On the basis of this constitution we have instituted legislation and established institutions to realise the people's basic rights, ensure transparency and accountability and protect the popular sovereignty of Kenyans.

A new Judiciary and electoral commission have ensured that we have credible elections and dispute resolution.

Your Excellencies, The people of Ethiopia warn against the deplorable presumption of chopping up meat for a lion; I cannot teach you your work, nor force you to accept my position.

Please institute a mechanism to empirically verify what I have told you. My part is to thank you on behalf of the people of Kenya for your help.

After the successful mediation of the post-election controversy in 2008, there was disagreement over the best way to bring the perpetrators of post-election violence to account and secure justice for the victims.

One proposal was to set up a local tribunal to try the cases, while another was to refer the matter to the ICC. The Mediator who had been appointed by your Excellencies referred the matter to the ICC when the disagreement persisted.

On the basis of this referral, the Prosecutor stated that he had launched investigations which, he claimed, established that 6 persons had committed crimes against humanity. According to the Prosecutor, your Excellencies, I fall among those men.

Your Excellencies,
From the beginning of the cases, I have fully cooperated with the Court in the earnest expectation that it afforded the best opportunity for me to clear my name. I have attended court whenever required and complied with every requirement made of me in connection with my case.

Other Kenyans charged before that court have similarly cooperated fully. The Government has cooperated to the maximum; the Court itself found that Kenya's Government has fully complied in 33 out of 37 instances, and was only prevented from cooperating 100 per cent by legal and constitutional constraints.

After my election, we have continued to fully cooperate. As earlier stated, we see it as the only means to achieve personal vindication, but also to protect our country from prejudice. As I address your Excellencies, my deputy is sitting - in person - in that Court.

Proceedings continue revealing the evidence against us to be reckless figments and fabrications every passing day. I cannot narrate quite accurately the calculated humiliation and stigma the prosecution has inflicted on us at every turn, within and outside the proceedings.

It is all consistent with a political agenda, rather than a quest for justice. For 5 years I have strained to cooperate fully, and have consistently beseeched the Court to expedite the cases.

Yet the gratuitous libel and prejudice I have encountered at the instance of the Prosecution seeks to present me as a fugitive from justice who is guilty as charged. All I have requested as President is to be allowed to execute my constitutional obligations as the forensic side of things is handled by my lawyers.

Even as we maintain our innocence, it has always been my position, shared by my deputy, that the events of 2007 represented the worst embarrassment to us as a nation, and a shock to our self-belief.

We almost commenced the rapid descent down the precipitous slope of destruction and anarchy. Its aftermath was similarly an unbearable shame.

We are a people who properly take pride in our achievements and our journey as a nation. The fact that over that time we had lost direction, however briefly, was traumatising.

That is the genesis of our rebirth. Until our ascension to the Presidency of Kenya, thousands of internally-displaced persons remained in camps.

It is generally difficult to resettle many people owing to scarcity of land and sensitivity to their preference. But we have undertaken to ensure that no Kenyan will be left behind in our journey to progress.

Resettling the IDP therefore was a particularly urgent assignment for us. Within 6 months of assuming office, we resettled all of them, and closed the displacement camps for good. Our efforts at pacifying the main protagonists in the PEV have similarly borne fruit.

So much so, that the reconciliation efforts gave birth to a successful political movement which won the last general election. This not only speaks to the success of reconciliation, but also testifies to its popular endorsement by the majority of the people of Kenya.

We certainly do not bear responsibility at any level for the post-election violence of 2007, but as leaders, we felt it incumbent upon us to bear responsibility for reconciliation and leadership of peace.

Our Government wants to lead Kenya to prosperity founded on national stability and security. Peace is indispensable to this aspiration. Reconciliation, therefore was not merely good politics; it is key to everything we want to achieve as a Government.

Your Excellencies,
America and Britain do not have to worry about accountability for international crimes. Although certain norms of international law are deemed peremptory, this only applies to non-Western states. Otherwise, they are inert. It is this double standard and the overt politicisation of the ICC that should be of concern to us here today.

It is the fact that this court performs on the cue of European and American governments against the sovereignty of African States and peoples that should outrage us. People have termed this situation "race-hunting". I find great difficulty adjudging them wrong.

What is the fate of International Justice? I daresay that it has lost support owing to the subversive machinations of its key proponents. Cynicism has no place in justice. Yet it takes no mean amount of selfish and malevolent calculation to mutate a quest for accountability on the basis of truth, into a hunger for dramatic sacrifices to advance
geopolitical ends.

The ICC has been reduced into a painfully farcical pantomime, a travesty that adds insult to the injury of victims. It stopped being the home of justice the day it became the toy of declining
imperial powers.

This is the circumstance which today compels us to agree with the reasons US, China, Israel, India and other non-signatory States hold for abstaining from the Rome Treaty.

In particular, the very accurate observations of John R Bolton who said, "For numerous reasons, the United States decided that the ICC had unacceptable consequences for our national sovereignty. Specifically, the ICC is an organization that runs contrary to fundamental American precepts and basic constitutional principles of popular sovereignty, checks and balances and national independence."

Our mandate as AU, and as individual African States is to protect our own and each other's independence and sovereignty. The USA and other nations abstained out of fear. Our misgivings are born of bitter experience.

Africa is not a third-rate territory of second-class peoples. We are not a project, or experiment of outsiders. It was always impossible for us to uncritically internalise notions of justice implanted through that most unjust of institutions: colonialism.

The West sees no irony in preaching justice to a people they have disenfranchised, exploited, taxed and brutalised.

Our history serves us well: we must distrust the blandishments of those who have drunk out of the poisoned fountain of imperialism.

The spirit of African pride and sovereignty has withstood centuries of severe tribulation. I invoke that spirit of freedom and unity today before you. It is a spirit with a voice that rings through all generations of human history. It is the eternal voice of a majestic spirit which will never die.

Kenya is striving mightily, and wants to work with its neighbours and friends everywhere to attain a better home, region and world. Kenya seeks to be treated with dignity as a proud member of the community of nations which has contributed immensely, with limited resources, to the achievement of peace, security and multilateralism.

Kenya looks to her friends in time of need. We come to you to vindicate our independence and sovereignty. Our unity is not a lie. The African Union is not an illusion.

The philosophy of divide-and rule, which worked against us all those years before, cannot shackle us to the ground in our Season of Renaissance. Our individual and collective sovereignty requires us to take charge of our destiny, and fashion African solutions to African problems.

It will be disingenuous, Excellencies, to pretend that there is no concern, if not outrage, over the manner in which ICC has handled not just the Kenyan, but all cases before it. All the cases currently before it arise from Africa.

Yet Africa is not the only continent where international crimes are being committed. Out of over 30 cases before the court, NONE relates to a situation outside Africa. All the people indicted before that court, ever since its founding have been Africans.

Every plea we have made to be heard before that court has landed upon deaf ears. When Your Excellencies resolution was communicated to the Court through a letter to its president, it was dismissed as not being properly before the Court and therefore ineligible for consideration.

When a civil society organisation wrote a letter bearing sensational and prejudicial fabrications, the Court took urgent and substantial decisions based on it. Before the ICC, African sovereign nations resolutions are NOTHING compared with the opinions of civil society activists.

The AU is the bastion of African sovereignty, and the vanguard of our unity. Yet the ICC deems it altogether unworthy of the minutest consideration. Presidents Kikwete, Museveni, Jonathan and Zuma have pronounced themselves on the courts insensitivity, arrogance and disrespect.

Leaders in my country have escalated their anxiety to the national Parliament, where a legislative process to withdraw altogether from the Rome Treaty is under consideration. As I said, it would not be right to ignore the fact that concern over the conduct of the ICC is strong and widespread.

There is very little that remains for me to say about the slights that the ICC continue to visit upon the nations and people of Africa. We want to believe in due process before the ICC, but where is it being demonstrated?

We want to see the ICC as fair and even-handed throughout the world, but what can we do when everyone but Africa is exempt from accountability? We would love nothing more than to have an international forum for justice and accountability, but what choice do we have when we get only bias and race-hunting at the ICC? Isnt respect part of justice?

Arent our sovereign institutions worthy of deference within the framework of international law? If so, what justice can be rendered by a court which disregards our views?

Our mandate is clear: sovereignty and unity. This is the forum for us to unite and categorically vindicate our overeignty.

Excellencies, I turn to you trusting that we will be faithful to our charge, to each other, and to our people.

I have utmost confidence that this Assemblys voice will be clear to the entire world. Like other African countries, Kenya did not achieve its independence with ease. Blood was shed for it.

Your Excellencies,

I thank you. God Bless you. God Bless Africa. (PSCU)

Tango73 · Oct 12, 2013

[h=2]maraisi wa AU wnaiogopa nini ICC?[/h]
maraisi wa africa wanapodai kuwa ICC ipo kwa ajiri ya kuwafedhehesha viongozi wa africa, ni waongo na tusiwaunge mkono. Kuna wakati mahakama ya dunia iliyopo the Hague, iliwasaka sana askari wa NAZI wa ujerumaji wakajibu mashtaka ya kuwauwa wayahudi. Wengi wa askari wa nazi wamefia jela au kujiuwa wenyewe. katibu mkuu wa zamani wa umoja wa mataifa DR Kurt Waldheim naye ni mmoja wa viopngozi aliyepewa arrest warrant ili akajibu hujuma zake za kushiriki kuwauwa wayahudi na alifungiwa kusafiri popote duniani.Hitrler ana arrest warrant mpakam leo ipo katika out going mail.

Slobodan milosevic raisi wa zamani wa Yugoslavia alikamtwa na mahakama ya dunia na kufufungwa maisha mpaka kafia gerezani . magenerali wa yugoslavia wengi wapo na arrest warrant. Iweje Leo hawa maraisi wa African unity wapoteze muda kukutana pale Ethiopia kulalamika kuwa AU ijitoe katika signartori wa ICC, eti ni wabaguzi wa rangi wanawawinda tuu viongozi wa africa tuu?

hawa maraisi wa Africa ambao wamezoea kutawala mabunge yasiyo na nguvu, na mahakama zisizo na nguvu wala huru wanaona ICC kama vile ni chombo kinachowapunguzia nguvu za umwinyi. Hivyo wanataka kukitosa.

NB: watanzania tuiombe UN, USA na EU wafanye dili na viongozi wa africa unity ya kuwa: kama ICC ikitoswa tuu basi na wao nao waunge mkono kila mapinduzi ya kijeshi yanayowaliza viongozi wa africa.

Horseshoe Arch · Oct 12, 2013

Ni upuuzi...out of mataifa 54 yaliyo wanachama wa AU 34 walisaini mkataba ya Rome uliopelekea kufungua ICC...kwani lengo lake lilikuwa kuwashughulikia waafrika tu?

salimkabora · Oct 12, 2013

Mshombsy said:
View attachment 116423

Maana yake nini kutuletea mabango ya mwaka jana huna mpya au hiyo cnn ya 6:36 OCT 12 ni mazingaombwe tu

Somoche · Oct 12, 2013

ICC NI WAHUNI TU WANAKAMATA WAAFRIKA TU, mbona wasikamate Bush aliua kule Iraq au Obama kaua maelfu Libya na syria

Mshombsy · Oct 12, 2013

salimkabora said:
Maana yake nini kutuletea mabango ya mwaka jana huna mpya au hiyo cnn ya 6:36 OCT 12 ni mazingaombwe tu

Kama africa ingelikuwa haiitaji ICC, mauaji ya Rwanda, Burundi, Kongo yasingekuwa kwenye historia ya Afrika. Mauaji ya wenyewe kwa wenyewe yangekuwa ni ya kufikirika lakini yametokea kweli ndani ya bara hili. Bila mahakama za kimataifa kama ICC, waliofanya mauaji rwanda wangekuwa mtaani.
Lakini cha kujiuliza zaidi Afrika mbona haipigi hatua kimaendeleo? Angalizo: maendeleo utakayotaja ni basic kwa kuwa watu wapo na rushwa inasonga. Yako mikononi mwa watu si bara kama bara mfano miundo mbinu, shule hospitali nk. Ila kuna watu matajiri

Innobwoy · Oct 12, 2013

Somoche said:
ICC NI WAHUNI TU WANAKAMATA WAAFRIKA TU, mbona wasikamate Bush aliua kule Iraq au Obama kaua maelfu Libya na syria

Kwani walishikwa mkono wasaini,embu jaribu kufikiria nje ya box,bila ICC hawa watawala wa waki Africa wangeuwa watu wangapi??tuna mahakama gani tunayoiamini Afrika inayoweza kuwashtaki maraisi wetu??????

bmalale · Oct 12, 2013

Innobwoy said:
Kwani walishikwa mkono wasaini,embu jaribu kufikiria nje ya box,bila ICC hawa watawala wa waki Africa wangeuwa watu wangapi??tuna mahakama gani tunayoiamini Afrika inayoweza kuwashtaki maraisi wetu??????

WENGI WAO NI WATUHUMIWA WATARAJIWA

[h=3]Kenya Leader Should Not Attend ICC Trial, AU Says[/h]
ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA - African leaders agreed on Saturday that Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta should not attend trial at the International Criminal Court if the U.N. Security Council did not agree to delay the proceedings, Ethiopia's foreign minister said.

Tedros Adhanom said that the African Union would request the trial be deferred under article 16 of the court's Rome Statute that allows a delay of a year subject to renewal and would request a postponement if that demand was not agreed.

"If that is not met, what the summit decided is that President Kenyatta should not appear until the request we have made is actually answered,'' Tedros told journalists, explaining decisions of a meeting to discuss Africa's relations with the court.

Earlier, foreign ministers of the 54-member African Union agreed that sitting heads of state should not be tried by the Hague-based court.

"It should be underscored that our goal is not and should not be a crusade against the ICC, but a solemn call for the organization to take Africa's concerns seriously," Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn said in an opening address.

Leaders meeting in Addis Ababa at the AU headquarters are expected to endorse the recommendations hammered out by ministers in Friday's meeting that extended past midnight.

Following that session, Ethiopian Foreign Minister Tedros Adhanom said trying Kenya's president and his deputy infringed on that nation's sovereignty. The two men deny charges that they orchestrated a killing spree after a disputed 2007 election.

Frustration with the ICC has been growing in Africa because the court has convicted only one man, an African warlord, and all others it has charged are also Africans.

The ministers did not call for a mass walk-out from the court's jurisdiction, however. Officials previously said that idea would be on the agenda but it did not draw broad support among the continent's 34 signatories to the court's Rome Statute.

Rights groups had urged African nations not to turn their backs on the court, which they say is vital to ending what they see as a culture of impunity in African politics.

Hailemariam told gathered leaders that the court and the U.N. Security Council had showed a "double standard" in the way it treated Africa and said earlier African requests for deferring cases had been ignored.

"It is indeed very unfortunate that the court has continued to operate in complete disregard of the concerns that we have expressed," he said.

Ethiopia's foreign minister said a group led by the AU chair, now Ethiopia, with members from Africa's five regions would press the U.N. Security Council to defer proceedings against Kenya's leadership and the Sudanese president.

'Demanding respect'

While the Kenyan politicians have cooperated with the court, Sudan's Omar Hassan al-Bashir is now subject to an arrest warrant after dismissing charges of war crimes and genocide.

"We underscored that sitting heads of state and governments should not be prosecuted while in office," Ethiopia's Tedros said, adding a one-year delay was being requested under article 16 of the Rome Statute.

Ministers called for using video links in the Kenyan trials to ensure leaders could carry on their official duties.

The court has yet to rule on whether Kenyatta and Ruto can be excused from large parts of their trials or whether they can participate by a video link. Proceedings, though not trials, against the two were underway before their March vote win.

"Demanding respect is the least Africa can do, but I also don't like to see this mistaken for - as we have seen with some of the detractors of this exercise - that Africans are supporting impunity. We don't," Rwandan Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo told Reuters.

Those comments were echoed by Ethiopia's premier and others.

After wrangling over wording on Friday, one senior delegate described the result as a "good compromise". Kenya said it had not sought a walk-out but said others had supported the idea.

Some Africans, including officials from heavyweights South African and Nigeria, had prior to the meeting indicated there was not broad backing for a walk-out from a court that received the backing of many Africans when it was set up.

London-based rights group Amnesty International urged African nations meeting in the Ethiopian capital not to cut ties with the court, saying victims of crimes deserved justice.

"The ICC should expand its work outside Africa, but it does not mean that its eight current investigations in African countries are without basis," Amnesty's deputy director of law and policy, Tawanda Hondora, said in a statement.

Kenyan Foreign Minister Amina Mohamed said she was satisfied with the outcome of Friday's talks, adding that immunity for a sitting president was "a principle that has existed for a long time" in international law.

Lawyers for Kenyatta asked on Thursday that his trial on charges of crimes against humanity be abandoned, saying defense witnesses had been intimidated.

Ruto went on trial in The Hague last month and Kenyatta's trial is due to start on Nov. 12.

VOA

Kenya Leader Should Not Attend ICC Trial, AU Says - THE EAST AFRICA TIMES

ICC na watawala wa Afrika

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