Ugandan legislators are considering petitioning the UN
Security Council over President Yoweri Museveni’s attack on the
independence and influence of ICC.
The MPs; Mathias Nsubuga (Bukoto South), Theodore
Ssekikubo (Lwemiyaga), Abdu Katuntu (Bugweri) and Barnabas Tinkasiimire
(Buyaga West), while addressing a press conference at Parliament Monday,
said President Museveni does not have the mandate to mobilise other
African countries to pull out of ICC without consulting Parliament.
President Museveni, in his address to the 68th UN
General Assembly in New York last month rebuked the West for what he
called its patronising arrogance toward Africa, and said a “biased”
International Criminal Court was “shallow” to tackle complex African
issues.
The background
In May, the AU, in a resolution sponsored by Uganda, demanded ICC refers adjudication of the war crimes and crimes against humanity case against Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto to Kenya’s “credible” judiciary.
In May, the AU, in a resolution sponsored by Uganda, demanded ICC refers adjudication of the war crimes and crimes against humanity case against Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto to Kenya’s “credible” judiciary.
Mr Nsubuga wondered why President Museveni was
decampaigning the ICC yet it seeks to punish leaders subscribed to it
for atrocities they commit and ill governance.
Mr Katuntu said leaders must not interfere with ICC’s due process of the law by making threatening statements.
Speaking at the inauguration of Mr Uhuru and Mr
Ruto in April, Mr Museveni accused the court of blackmail, incompetence
and self-interest. President Museveni said the ICC had been “grabbed by a
bunch of self-seekers and shallow minded people whose interests is to
mint revenge on those who hold opposing views’’.
Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto stand indicted by the ICC for crimes against humanity following the 2008 post-election violence.
AFRICA REVIEW
AFRICA REVIEW
