In 2009, African leaders met in Addis Ababa to declare 2009-2018 as the "." Despite rhetoric promising to mobilize resources to help spur human development and curb unemployment, there has been limited progress on integrating youth into society’s most formidable institution: the statehouse.

Today, Africa has the largest youth population in the world with . Despite the huge population growth among the continent’s youth, the average age of an African president is around 63-years-old.

In late January, took to the streets of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso to protest against proposed changes to the constitution that would allow President Blaise Compaoré to run for another term in 2015. Opposition leaders organized a national day of protest to demand that Compaoré steps down in lieu of making revisions to presidential term limits. Currently, the country's constitution limits presidents to two five-year terms.

President Compaoré came to power in 1987 following a coup. After serving two seven-year terms, the constitution was changed in 2000, allowing him to serve two additional five-year terms. Under the stipulations of the current constitution, his term is set to end next year.

The recent protests in Burkina Faso are merely emblematic of many African leaders’ refusal to turn over power to a new generation that is crying out for recognition and support. However, Compaoré is not alone in his long run at the top. Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni has been in power for over 28 years; Cameroon’s Paul Biya for 32 years; Zimbabwe’s infamous Robert Mugabe for 34 years; and José Eduardo Dos Santos of Angola and Teodoro Obiang of Equatorial Guinea for 35 years each.

A Recipe for Instability

Although many of the aforementioned leaders were once heralded as revolutionary heroes to their people, they have since become old men enamored with the trappings of power. Many African leaders are often deluded into thinking they have the hearts of their people.

However, in claiming to love and act in the best interest of their nations, these leaders may do more harm than good. A one-man regime, built on a simulacrum of a functional civil service, is a recipe for disaster when that leader leaves. The tenuous relationships that he has built through lining the pockets of his supporters or by using force will shatter, leaving either a power vacuum or a splintered state.

Nowhere has this been clearer than in the case of Ivory Coast in the 1990s when the death of President Houphouët-Boigny turned the country upside down. As a result, Ivory Coast struggled to maintain peace. Its fragmented political relations in the wake of Houphouët-Boigny's may have been a major factor in the 1999 coup and, ultimately, the Ivorian Civil War.The risk that we might witness a future crop of unstable states after the death or fall of one of these aging autocrats is high.

The gap between the leadership and the people has become a growing source of contention as one might see in the recent uproar over Francis Muthaura’s appointment in Kenya. As a former member of the Kibaki administration, Muthaura’s appointment as the head of a multibillion-dollar rail, road, and port project in Lamu alienated local people who demanded a fresh face to spearhead the project. In Kenya, the flames of anger may have dissipated, but we must seriously consider circumstances in which they might burn unabated.

In Burkina Faso, we may be seeing the seeds of a disgruntled youth movement akin to the events of the Arab Spring in which a young population, frustrated with unemployment and autocracy, fought for more democratic representation and economic participation.

Like the aging Sub-Saharan gerontocracy, North African leaders were markedly older than the citizens of their countries. Hosni Mubarak was 82 at the time of his ouster, while the median age in Egypt is around 30. Libya’s Muammar Qaddafi was similarly much older than the average Libyan. As the youth population in Africa continues to explode, it is likely that discontent with aging autocrats will grow unless action is taken now.

Time for Change

Local communities must push for the revitalization of democracy through the enforcement of presidential term limits and a balance of power. By establishing a tradition of smooth transfers of power between candidates truly chosen by the people, citizens have a greater chance of ensuring that their interests are represented.

However, in urging the gerontocracy to abdicate its de-facto throne, it must also be ensured that African nations do not suffer due to a limited pool of qualified candidates. To overcome these potential shortcomings, the international community must continue its support of improving education and building capacity in the developing world.

As we lie in the midst of an African Renaissance and a global boom in technology, the possibilities to rapidly accelerate opportunities for citizens to improve their education and make the leap towards public service are endless. There are hundreds clamoring at the door to make their voices heard. It is time to let them in.

The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect 51勛圖’s editorial policy.

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Background

Despite the fact that the International Criminal Court (ICC) may appear to be a recent phenomenon, in reality, the long story of its establishment stretches back to the late 19^th century.

In 1872, Gustav Moynier, one of the founders of the International Committee of the Red Cross, proposed the creation of a permanent international court to seek justice for crimes committed during the Franco-Prussian War.

The next resurgence of interest in the establishment of an international tribunal occurred in 1919 during the Paris Peace Conference, when the drafters of the Treaty of Versailles proposed the establishment of a court to try Kaiser Wilhelm II and German forces. The idea was abandoned until it was resurrected following World War II, when the Allies started the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials to seek justice for victims of atrocities and to punish the perpetrators.  

Following these trials, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the . The document called for criminals to be tried "by such international penal tribunals" that have jurisdiction, while it also asked the International Law Commission (ILC) "to study the desirability and possibility of establishing an international judicial organ for the trials of persons charged with genocide." Although the International Law Commission drafted these documents, the plan for an international tribunal was abandoned due to the tense political climate of the Cold War.

In 1989, Trinidad and Tobago, partially motivated by a desire to combat drug trafficking, moved to resurrect the pre-existing proposals for the establishment of an international tribunal. Consequently, the ILC resumed drafting a statute.

In the early 1990s, as the United Nations (UN) established ad hoc tribunals in Rwanda and Bosnia to seek justice for genocide and other crimes against humanity, the need for a permanent international criminal court became increasingly clear.

After years of negotiations, the UN General Assembly convened a conference in Rome in June 1998 to finalize a treaty. On July 17, 1988, the was adopted — 120 nations voted in favor of the adoption of the Rome Statute; seven nations, including the United States, Israel, China, Iraq and Qatar, voted against the treaty; and 21 nations abstained. In 2002, the court became fully operational.

According to its mandate, the ICC is intended to complement existing national judicial systems. The court only exercises its jurisdiction in cases where national courts are unwilling or unable to investigate or prosecute crimes. The Office of the Prosecutor is responsible for conducting investigations and prosecutions. The prosecutor opens investigations after referrals from state parties or the UN Security Council. However, the prosecutor may also open an investigation, if they receive information meriting a judicial response from individuals or NGOs.

The first prosecutor of the ICC was Luis Moreno Ocampo, while the current prosecutor is Fatou Bensouda. The court’s headquarters are in The Hague, Netherlands.

Why is the ICC Relevant?

In recent years, the ICC has been accused of bias and neo-colonialism as all eight cases that the court has investigated have been African ones. Despite having a global mandate, African leaders have complained that the ICC places too much of an emphasis on Africa while ignoring other nations.

Due to the prosecution of Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and Vice President William Ruto for , the ICC has been subject to severe criticism over the last few years. Kenyan Foreign Minister Amina Mohamed has accused the ICC of treating “,” while the Kenyan parliament passed a motion calling for the withdrawal of support for the ICC.

The Kenyan campaign against the ICC has received support from other African nations. In October 2013, the African Union (AU) convened a summit that . Following the summit, the AU called upon the ICC and the UN Security Council to delay the Kenyatta/Ruto case.

Now, a debate rages on over the court’s perceived bias and who should direct the fight for justice in Kenya.

The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect 51勛圖’s editorial policy.

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