Nairobi — Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said on Monday the government would reconsider its International Criminal Court (ICC) membership, signalling another African country may withdraw from the Rome Statute. Kenyatta and his deputy, William Ruto, have both faced charges at the ICC over their alleged roles in the deadly inter-ethnic violence after Kenya’s 2007 elections in which about 1,200 people died. Both cases collapsed due to insufficient evidence. Some witness intimidation was blamed. His announcement put new pressure on the world’s first permanent war crimes court, which has had to fight off allegations of pursuing a neo-colonial agenda in Africa. SA, Burundi and Gambia have officially notified the UN of their intent to pull out of the Rome Statute, the 1998 treaty establishing The Hague-based court. The withdrawals will take effect in 2017. Russia also has withdrawn its support. In a televised speech to mark the establishment of Kenya as a republic in 1964, Kenyatta said t...
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