Ruto Signs Laws Protecting Govt Officials From Prosecution

President William Ruto has taken a bold move by signing a protocol of the African Union relating to the Pan-African Parliament, which paves the way for the ratification of the Malabo Protocol. 

This continental law protects Heads of State and other senior government officials from prosecution for heinous international crimes while they are still serving their terms. The Malabo Protocol contains an immunity clause that prevents the investigation of Heads of State and senior state officials who commit crimes under international law. 

"The signing of the Malabo Protocol fulfils a commitment made by William Samoei Ruto to members of the Pan-African Parliament during his keynote address at the 3rd Pan-African Parliament’s Summit on Climate Policy and Equity, held in May this year at the Parliament’s Headquarters in Midrand, South Africa," reads the statement in part. 

Ruto had earlier promised to ratify the Malabo Protocol by September 2023 and his signing of the protocol to the constitutive act of the African Union marks the first step in the ratification journey which includes signing, ratifying, and depositing instruments at the African Union Commission for the protocols to apply. Kenya became the 23rd state to sign the protocol, and if it ratifies it by September, it will be the 16th country to do so.

"I want to undertake that before September, we will have concluded that exercise. Take it from me because we are believers in this continent and Kenya is a champion of consolidating our issues around the African Union. Otherwise, African solutions, Agenda 2063, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and the young, green, clean continent of the future will remain a mere pipe dream," Ruto said.

The Malabo protocol was approved during the African Union Assembly of Heads of State and Government Summit in Equatorial Guinea in June 2014. Its primary objective was to give the Pan-African Parliament greater authority as a legislative body of the Union, particularly in terms of jurisdiction over international legal matters.