African leaders at the recently held African Union (AU) Summit, including Kenya’s Uhuru Kenyatta and Chad’s General Idriss Déby Itno, made an interesting argument about the seemingly biased manner in which the International Criminal Court (ICC) operates towards African countries. As a result of these reservations, these state leaders have expressed their country’s desire to leave the court. At the summit, it was stated that the ICC lacked an all-encompassing judicial reach and was mainly targeting African countries in fulfilling its set mission.
To this end, President Kenyatta, the front liner for the proposal, urged African leaders to resist being carried along with a course that was detrimental to the “sovereignty, security and dignity of Africans.”
While the argument made by Kenyatta and other affected African states backing his proposal is undeniably well-founded, their request remains dubious, especially when one considers the African countries that are the most vocal about leaving the ICC; Kenya, Cote d’Ivoire, Libya, Sudan, Central African Republic, Mali, Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda.