Kibaki is against ICC ruling

Mwai Kibaki has come out in his true colours. As a Kenyan nationalist he has strongly defended Uhuru Kenyatta and Francis Muthaura who have both been indicted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity. This very mysterious anti ICC sentiment by the President seems to be engineered by a secret force in his kitchen cabinet made up of the Mount Kenya old politicians who are determined to see Uhuru Kenyatta succeed Kibaki as the country’s next President.

Sailing in the same boat with Uhuru and Muthaura are William Ruto and Joshua arap Sang who are now, by sheer luck, getting Kenya government protection against Louis Moreno-Ocampo because they happen to be charged by the ICC together with the son of the first President of Kenya Jomo Kenyatta.

But the business of seeking justice has nothing to do with nationalism. Whether the PEV trials take place in Kenya or in The Hague all that should concern us is justice. The manner in which the Kenyan authorities have handled the PEV cases does not convince anyone that justice in Kenya is easier to obtain than at the ICC, all the changes that have taken place in the Judiciary and in the public prosecution office notwithstanding.

In his desperate effort to get the Uhuru case brought back to Kenya, in order to let the Kikuyu Presidential candidate free, Kibaki has ordered the Attorney General, Githu Muigai, to appoint a team of experts to “advise” the Government on the latest development at The Hague. The team is expected to recommend that another attempt be made to try and get the case returned to Kenya from the Netherlands.The first attempt made by Kibaki last year flopped miserably.

A lot of Kenyan taxpayers’ money will be used to pay the team composed of Sir Geoffrey Nice, Mr Rodney Dixon, Dr. Godfrey Musila , Mr Fred Ojiambo, Mr Joe Okwach, Mr Waweru Gatonye, Ms Betty Murungi, Ms Lucy Kambuni, Ms Grace Wakio and Dr Henry Mutai with a secretariat composed of Mr Ahmed Mohamed and Ms Caroline Wamaitha.
Though the team is made up of some of the best lawyers in this country, it is headed by British lawyers who will only do what their clients have ask them to, namely to see how the case can be brought back to Kenya from The Hague.

The money used to pay these lawyers should have been used to resettle the IDPs still suffering in their own country as landless people. The most shocking truth is the fact that the IDPs actually own farms which are now occupied by criminals responsible for the mayhem that this country went through after the 2007 elections.
Needless to say, in the unlikely event of the Uhuru case getting transferred back to Kenya, then Uhuru, Muthaura, Ruto and Sang will be set free despite all the noise being made about changes that have taken place in the Judiciary.

Chief Justice Willy Mutunga could have all the best intentions in the world in establishing special courts to try the four accused; but once the courts are established no one will appear before them as Keriako Tobiko will never betray the establishment by prosecuting Uhuru Kenyatta.

Besides that, Kibaki has never really been interested in justice. If he wanted justice to be seen to be done, then he would have ordered Uhuru and Muthaura to step down until the two are found innocent after the trial in the Netherlands. The team of highly respected lawyers hired by Kibaki can do very little to influence the court at the ICC. All they can do is issue a statement that will please Kibaki and his kitchen cabinet.

No matter how good lawyers are they always serve their masters and the master of the team appointed by Kibaki is Kibaki himself. He expressed his wishes the moment he opened his mouth to comment on the indictments of the four Kenyan suspects last Monday when he told the whole country that while the ICC process was underway, Kenya had enacted a new Constitution which substantially enhanced the capacity of the country’s criminal justice system and made great strides in the reform within the system in the administration of justice.

Those words clearly indicated what the President wished the team to do. Whatever recommendation it makes to the Government, it has to bear in mind that Kenya, in the words of the President, now has a “radically transformed judiciary, an independent office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, a police service that is being fundamentally reformed and a functional witness protection agency.” According to Kibaki it is now the collective responsibility of all these institutions to ensure justice for all at all times.

If the President meant every word he said he would have instructed his Deputy Prime Minister, Uhuru Kenyatta, and his Head of the Civil Service , Francis Muthaura , to step aside until the moment the ICC has found them to be no longer suspects after being proved innocent through the appeal of the ICC ruling or the full trial. William Ruto should also resign his parliamentary seat as the MP for Eldoiret North.

Their continued occupation of public offices goes against the spirit of our Constitution which says in Article 73 (1) that authority assigned to a State officer is a public trust to be exercised in a manner that is consistent with the purposes and objects of the new Constitution. It says that that authority must demonstrate respect for the people; and bring honour to the nation and dignity to the office. No one can be charged with serious crimes, which include murder and rape, before the International Criminal Court and still claim to bring dignity to the public office he or she holds. Ruto, Uhuru and Muthaura cannot claim to be promoting public confidence in the integrity of the offices they hold. The sooner they are asked to resign the better for Kenya’s integrity both locally and internationally.

According to President Kibaki, Kenya has had its share of challenging times. He said on these occasions, we have re-examined our national conscience and moved forward together. According to him we continue to do so. But how can we continue to do so when people who are obviously suspected of committing very serious crimes are being protected by the Government against the will of the people who would like to see justice done in The Hague?

It is only after the ICC ruling which indicted the four Kenyans that Kibaki started talking of re-dedicating ourselves to assist those who were displaced from their homes. For four years the Government has done nothing to make sure that the displaced people returned to their farms in the Rift Valley. Today William Ruto talks of peace and reconciliation but what has he done to tell his Kalenjin people to allow other Kenyans conduct business peacefully on their farms in the Rift Valley?

Kibaki has directed all relevant government ministries to fast track the resettlement of the remaining Internally Displaced Persons. Why should people who already own farms in Kenya be resettled elsewhere when their farms still exist? Kibaki called to all Kenyans to “search our national conscience, re-dedicate ourselves to a true sense of national reconciliation and forgiveness.” Kenyans will believe him when his Government does something to take back all the non Kalenjin to their old farms now illegally occupied by criminals.

For some very strange reasons the statement by Mwai Kibaki seems to contradict another statement which he jointly issued with the Prime Minister on November 5, 2007 when the two jointly said that they had a constructive meeting with Mr Louis Moreno- Ocampo. According to the statement they issued, the discussions were candid and frank. Mr Moreno-Ocampo had explained to Raila and Kibaki his mandate and how he intended to execute that mandate.

At that time Kibaki said the Government remained fully committed to discharge its primary responsibility in accordance with the Rome Statute to establish a local judicial mechanism to deal with the perpetrators of the post-election violence. In addition, the Government remained committed to cooperate with ICC within the framework of the Rome Statute and the International Crimes Act. For reasons well known to everyone Kenya did not succeed in establishing a relevant court to try the suspects; that is why it ended up in The Hague.

According to Section 4 (1) of International Crimes Act the provisions of the Rome Statute regarding the bringing and determination of proceedings before the ICC; and the enforcement in Kenya of sentences of imprisonment or other measures imposed by the ICC, and any related matters shall have the force of law in Kenya. In other words, Muthaura, Uhuru, Sang and Ruto are in the same situation as if they were facing murder and rape charges in Kenya. They therefore have no business holding any public office of leadership in this country as long as the charges against them stand.