The Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, has called for the consolidation of democracy in African nations as a critical form of support for the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Speaking at the 23rd session of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute in The Hague, Dame underscored that a robust democratic framework ensures citizens’ rights to free expression, security, and adherence to constitutional limits on governance.
These principles, he argued, mitigate conditions leading to genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and impunity—key areas of ICC focus.
Dame emphasised that genuine democracy on the continent requires building strong justice systems and equipping institutions to investigate and prosecute cases within the ICC’s scope.
He noted that such efforts reduce reliance on international interventions, fostering accountability and upholding human rights domestically.
“Ghana holds the view that the best form of support for the ICC is by African nations consolidating democracy in their jurisdictions and avoiding conditions suggestive of impunity calling for the intervention of the ICC.
“When democracy reigns and is practised in its true form with the citizens feeling a sense of fulfilment of the entitlements of citizenship – free expression, security, adherence to constitutionally stipulated terms for governments without an attempt to manipulate same – concerns about the commission of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and impunity, in general, will be non-existent. Conditions which attract the interest of the ICC will necessarily be eliminated.
“Further, the pure practice of democracy in Africa enjoins the establishment of sound systems of justice and the creation of facilities for the investigation and trial of cases of interest to the ICC.
“This, without a doubt, is in line with the declared objective of the ICC as it fosters the principle of complementarity enshrined in the Rome Statute,” Dame stated.
