ODM secretary general, Ababu Namwamba, has accused the African Union (AU) of insincerity following a motion filed by Kenya seeking withdrawal from the Rome statute that formed International Criminal Court.
Kenya received a major boost on Sunday when President Uhuru Kenyatta’s withdrawal motion was endorsed by AU presidents in Addis Ababa. But on Monday during a public lecturer at Kisii University, Namwamba said the position could throw the country into a state of lawlessness and increase crimes against humanity.
''The AU is acting in bad faith because this is total violation of people’s basic rights. ICC has been behind promotion of good governance in all nations and withdrawal could set a bad precedence and create a room for violation of human rights. I want to caution them against that primitive move,'' he said.
The Budalang’i lawmaker said for Kenya to withdraw from the Rome statute, it needed a referendum and challenged the government to follow the right procedure if at all it needs to withdraw from ICC.
''In fact, withdrawing is not as easy as they think. The government should desist from executing things in a myopic way. There must be a referendum in the country that will endorse the withdrawal and of which I know Kenyan’s will reject. It’s time to respect the corridors of justice because that is where the weak gets justice,'' he said.
He also blamed AU of the ongoing violence in Burundi and accused it of leaving Burundians in isolation.