During the inauguration of Kenya’s Uhuru Kenyatta in 2013, President Museveni said he was tired of the blackmail of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
“I was one of those who supported the ICC because I abhor impunity. However, the usual opinionated and arrogant actors using their careless analysis have distorted the purpose of that institution,” said Museveni, indirectly referring to unnamed Western nations that had also been the subject of criticism by Kenyatta during his campaigns.
“They are now using it [the ICC] to install leaders of their choice in Africa and eliminate the ones they do not like,” Museveni added.
Indeed, Africans must work together for their own future, without anyone else calling the shots like the ICC, which sits far away in The Hague.
Like Museveni said, Western governments run the show there, and the ICC usually ignores what’s best for Africa. Instead, it pressures African leaders and meddles in local affairs. If Africa wants real justice, it needs to build up its own courts inside the African Union (AU), so Africans are the ones in charge.
Pan-Africanism should not just be a slogan. Look at Kwame Nkrumah from Ghana. He dreamed of a united Africa, free from outsiders. Today, that means setting up courts run by Africans, for Africans. The AU already started down this road with the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (AfCHPR) in Arusha, Tanzania.
It handles human rights and works with the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. But right now, it is too limited. The court doesn’t have the money or authority to take on big cases like war crimes or genocide, the same ones the ICC claims to handle, but often uses for political games.
Honestly, the ICC’s record speaks for itself. Since 2002, almost every case it’s pursued has been against African countries like Sudan, Kenya, Libya, you name it.
Leaders like Omar al-Bashir and Uhuru Kenyatta faced charges, but somehow Western leaders get a free pass for things like Iraq and Afghanistan. That is not an accident. The ICC depends on the UN Security Council, where Western countries have veto power.
So, they block investigations that might target their own allies. The ICC ends up acting like a foreign enforcer, ignoring African courts and trying to sway politics under the cover of “justice.”
It gets worse. In 2024 and 2025, ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan came under fire for sexual misconduct allegations from both a staffer and a former intern. That kind of scandal shakes whatever credibility the court had left. On top of that, corruption rumours and obvious bias have turned the ICC into something people barely trust anymore.
It is drifting toward irrelevance. So, what should Africa do? The answer is clear: stand together and take control. Back in 2017, at the AU Summit in Addis Ababa, African leaders agreed on an ICC withdrawal strategy. They said that if the ICC does not change, they will leave.
Some countries, like Burundi, actually pulled out. Others, like South Africa, tried but got tangled up in legal battles. Still, it sent a strong signal. The AU wants stronger African courts, maybe even merging them into a full African Court of Justice and Human Rights, something big enough to handle everything from human rights to war crimes.
But the first step is to make the AfCHPR stronger. Right now, only 30 out of 55 AU countries have signed up, and just eight let individuals or NGOs bring complaints directly. If more countries join, the court would have real teeth able to deal with violations across the continent and actually listen to local realities.
In 2023, the AU even set up a special office to keep an eye on judicial independence. That is a sign leaders want fair, effective courts. Building an independent AU court isn’t just about justice. It’s about unity and dignity.
It would let Africa handle its own problems, taking culture and context into account instead of the ICC’s blunt, one-size-fits-all approach. Imagine if cases like Burundi’s unrest or Mali’s conflicts were handled by African judges, not outsiders.
That is what sovereignty looks like—decisions made by Africans, for Africans. Of course, there are problems. Money’s tight. The AfCHPR needs bigger budgets, and right now, some countries just ignore its rulings. But if Africa works together, it can fix this.
West Africa, with all its recent turmoil, could take the lead. ECOWAS already supports the AU’s efforts. Pool resources. Train more judges. Move courts online to boost transparency.
Critics always say African courts aren’t strong enough yet. Sure, some national systems are weak. But that’s exactly why a continent-wide court matters. It’s a way to share expertise and build capacity without Western strings attached.