President Goodluck Jonathan has lent his voice to the ongoing debate on the trail of President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague, stating that International Organisations were created to resolve problems and not to compound them.
President Jonathan was speaking while delivering an address to the Joint Session of the Kenyan Parliament on the sidelines of his state visit to that country.
He noted that International Organisations should rather than be seen to compound the problems of nations wade into it and solve them.
Specifically, Jonathan noted that the insistence of the ICC to try Kenyatta, would further compound the political crisis that had already been resolved in Kenya.
It will be recalled that the 2006 general elections in Kenya in had thrown the country into political turmoil, which was later resolved.
President Jonathan noted that with the successful completion of the recent peaceful Presidential elections in Kenya, the ICC should not be seen as a body to derail the progress made in the country.
He further called on the international community to support Kenya in its social-economic development.
“I belief that any law whether local or international as well as Treaties and Conventions should be seen to solve human problems and not to compound them,?? he said.
There has been an ongoing controversy on whether to try Kenyatta and his Deputy, William Ruto, over alleged crimes against humanity committed before their elections.
The Kenyan Parliament, had been recalled from recess on Thursday to vote for the withdrawal of the country from the ICC, and had voted in favour of the motion.
However, the Global court has insisted that the trial of Kenyatta and his Deputy Ruto would go ahead.
However, Jonathan argued that the 2013 Presidential elections which brought President Kenyatta to office had demonstrated that Kenyans were capable of resolving their own problems without the interference of the international community.
“I believe I share the sentiments of the government and people of Kenya when I say that we in Nigeria do not embrace democracy and the rule of law in response to external pressure or demand.
“We have embraced democracy and its underpinnings such as free, fair, credible and transparent election; rule of law; respect for human and peoples? rights, because they are the right things to do and they are good for us.
“We do not seek the validation or endorsement of our democracy outside the collective will of our people, the citizens and electorates of our respective countries.
“Democracy is not a one-size-fits-all system; rather it is a dynamic political system which must be operated within the particular context it finds itself,?? he said.
He further called for the reform of the UN Security Council and other multilateral Organisations with lopsided membership.
?The on-going debate about the emerging global governance architecture should be of interest to our two countries and Africa as a whole.
“The existing international system is undemocratic and unfair.
“Africa?s non-representation in the Councils and Chambers of international decision-making in the past was always explained in terms of our lack of sovereign independence.
“This claim is no longer valid. We call for the reform of the inherited global governance institutions. We call, especially, for the reform of the United Nations and its Security Council.
“Africa and other regions of the world, either not represented at all or inadequately represented, should be admitted into the permanent membership category of an expanded UN Security Council.
“Similar expansion and reform should also apply to all the other multilateral institutions with lopsided membership such as the Bretton Woods institutions.
“This would ensure that the decisions of these organisations enjoy the respect and credibility of their members,?? he said
The Speaker of the Kenya National Assembly, Hon. Justin Muturi acknowledged President Jonathan’s support for the Kenyan position that its people could solve their problems, noting that the decision of the position of the ICC could plunge back Kenya into the unfortunate incidents of 2007.
