ABSTRACT

Background: Kenya’s transition from the Moi to the Kibaki presidency

Kenya’s participation in the international human rights regime: avoiding costly commitment

Kenya’s commitment to the ICC: rationality succumbs to pressure

Kenya’s commitment to the ICC post-ratification: mainly a record of noncompliance

Kenya and the ICC: assessing the explanatory power of the credible threat theory

Conclusion

This case study, too, provides an opportunity to assess the explanatory power of the credible threat theory to explain International Criminal Court (ICC) ratification behavior and to compare it to the explanatory power of the credible commitment theory and the external pressures theories. This chapter explores Kenya’s decision to ratify the Rome Statute, notwithstanding its history of poor human rights practices and weak domestic law enforcement institutions. Kenya signed the ICC treaty on 11 August 1999 under the leadership of long-time President Daniel arap Moi. Kenya, however, did not ratify the treaty until much later on 15 March 2005 under the leadership of President Mwai Kibaki.