Kenya among five African states whose ICC dues are fully paid

The ICC court building in The Hague. Kenya is among five African State Parties to the International Criminal Court (ICC) that have fully settled their financial obligations to the court. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP 

In Summary

• A report compiled by the court’s Committee on Budget and Finance shows that Kenya cleared 26,110 euros (Sh2.8 million) that was required from it under the 2014 budget.
• A State party is usually barred from voting in the Assembly of State Parties (ASP) if its arrears are equal to, or exceed the amount of contributions due from it in the preceding two full years.
• In the report, the committee stated that 12 countries out of 123 member states will not be allowed to vote in upcoming conferences.
  Among the 12 are Tanzania, Niger, Malawi, Guinea, Congo and Benin.

By VALENTINE OBARA
More by this Author

Kenya is among five African State Parties to the International Criminal Court (ICC) that have fully settled their financial obligations to the court.

A report compiled by the court’s Committee on Budget and Finance shows that Kenya cleared 26,110 euros (Sh2.8 million) that was required from it under the 2014 budget, where a total of 71.7 million euros (Sh7.7 billion) was raised.

Apart from contributions, the financial report also shows that the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) spent 245,600 euros (Sh26.3 million) in 2014 for “activities related to offences against administration of justice” in Kenya.

Out of the 34 African member states, the only other countries that cleared their payments were Ghana, Namibia, South Africa and Madagascar.

Ghana paid 28,002 euros (Sh3 million), Namibia cleared 19,828 euros (Sh2.1 million) and South Africa settled 738,837 euros (Sh79.1 million) whereas Madagascar paid 6,054 euros (Sh647,778).

A State party is usually barred from voting in the Assembly of State Parties (ASP) if its arrears are equal to, or exceed the amount of contributions due from it in the preceding two full years.

NOT ALLOWED TO VOTE

In the report, the committee stated that 12 countries out of 123 member states will not be allowed to vote in upcoming conferences.

Among the 12 are Tanzania, Niger, Malawi, Guinea, Congo and Benin.

“The Committee noted that the Secretariat had informed State Parties in arrears twice in 2014 of the minimum payment required to avoid application of the article 112, paragraph 8, of the Statute, and of the procedure for requesting an exemption from the loss of voting rights,” it states.

The African Union has heavily relied on votes from African member states in the recent past years to change the rules and regulations of the ICC during annual ASP conferences.

Among the changes that have successfully gone through is on partial excusal of sitting heads of state from physically attending hearings of their cases at the Hague-based court.

Regarding the OTP’s expenditure in Kenya, the report dated May 25 states that witness relocation was among activities related to offences against the administration of justice that were funded by the Sh26.3 million.

The Rome Statute lists such offences to include giving false testimony when under an obligation to tell the truth, presenting evidence that the party knows is false or forged, corruptly influencing witnesses and interfering with the attendance or testimony of a witness.