CORD MPs walk out as parliament votes to pass motion seeking to withdraw Kenya from the Rome Statute

Member of parliament stormed out of parliament yesterday during early stages of the special sitting that had been convened to discuss Adan Duale's motion that seeks to withdraw Kenya's membership at the International Criminal Court.

This happened even as he members of parliament who remained in the house, mostly those allied to the Jubilee coalition, went on to vote and pass the motion sanctioning Kenya's withdrawal from the Rome Statute.

Speaker of the National Assembly had over-ruled attempts by the CORDs' members of parliament to block debate on the controversial motion.

MPs allied to to the ruling Jubilee coalition wants the government to initiate steps that will see Kenya finally pull out of the ICC.

If these attempts will be successful, Kenya will become the first nation to revoke its ICC membership.

Following the passing of the motion, the Jubilee government is now expected to introduce a bill in parliament in 30 days to repeal the international Crimea Act that domesticated the Rome Statute which established the ICC.

If this bill is approved, the government will have to notify the UN through its secretary general on the on its decision to pull out of the Rome Statute. This process will take a maximum of one year, meaning that even if Kenya chose to withdraw from the ICC, this decision will not have any effect on the cases that are before the ICC involving President Uhuru Kenyatta, his deputy William Ruto and radio journalist Joshua Arap Sang'.

While passing the motion, Jubilee MPs termed the ICC as a court merely 'perpetuating a neo-colonial agenda'. Attacking some civil society groups especially the African Centre for Open Governance (Africog), they were also of the opinion that the cases at the ICC should be brought back home. They blamed these civil societies for being the architects of the two Kenyan cases at the ICC. 
 
This hotted debate saw bitter exchange of arguments between the two sides of the coalitions, at some point the leader of minority in the National Assembly Jakoyo Midiwo calling his Jubilee counterparts thieves. He also led the Cord MPs walk out.

“A government that victimizes its citizens needs a big brother, and that big brother is the ICC. As Cord, we shall never be party to placing this country in a situation where a despot can come and kill people and have no one to answer to,” said Midiwo as they walked out of parliament.