Sunday, January 20, 2013

Let’s Forget About ICC Until After Elections



FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 2013 - 00:00
 -- BY TONY GACHOKA
Kenya is 45 days away from the March 4 historic elections. As countrymen, we will be making the critical decision on who we want to be our next leaders.
Presidential candidates are on the campaign trail selling their party policies to the public. The Jubilee Alliance and Coalition for Reform and Democracy (Cord) rallies have brought forth dynamic issues like land ownership but the biggest elephant in the room lately has been the International Criminal Court (ICC).
In the past week, the Jubilee Alliance has received extremely negative coverage in the local media. This is because the leaders of Cord, notably Prime Minister Raila Odinga and his deputy Kalonzo Musyoka, have made it their focus to discredit the leadership qualities and integrity of the Jubilee flag bearers – Presidential candidate Uhuru Kenyatta and his running mate William Ruto - on the basis of the ICC.
In a recent Cord rally at the Kenyatta Stadium Kitale, The Standard newspaper published “Our brothers in the Jubilee should stop using Kenyans in their predicament. Leaders should be servants of the people and not use them as shields.” Mr Musyoka uttered these words.
Not so long ago, he was the leader of the infamous shuttle diplomacy to lobby the UN to let ICC cases be deferred to Kenya. When did he turn choirmaster and accuse the Jubilee of hiding behind the campaigns to elude The Hague?
What these two individuals fail to see is that ICC is a legal process and not political. Last year, the court agreed with the prosecution and defence team that the start date of trails should not interfere with a country’s democratic process i.e the elections. Thus, set the date for April 11.
In my opinion, the whole ICC process should be doubted as it is teeming with political intrigues. As I have often stated the whole process and circumstances in which led to Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto being suspects has been murky at best.
The two Kenya National Human Right Commission reports released in July and August 2008 were monumentally different.
In the July report, it recommended the Prime Minister for prosecution. In the second version, the names of Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto were included while the Prime Minister erased (THIS ASSERTION NEEDS TO BE CHECKED - WILLIAM).
One begs the question, what changed so much that in a space of one month the two reports can be so different? I often query the capacity and ability of the KNHRC to investigate. We still have witnesses, the Internally Displaced People, who are yet to tell their side of the story.
Yet, the Waki Commission heavily adopted the second version to do its own investigation and later came up with Secret List.
Then its report was handed over to Kofi Annan, then ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo and now, the current prosecutor Fatou Bensouda. This calls to question the quality of the Waki findings.
When will an independent investigation be done by a credible, competent and qualified institution like the FBI or the CIA?
What worries me is the total disregard of the rule of law. Under the new constitution Article 50 (2), a person is presumed innocent until proven otherwise.
Mr Kenyatta has been under immense pressure not to run on because of the ICC. The international community too has expressed its acid opinion.
Hilary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, said that if Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto are elected then it would not be business as usual; in one word “sanctions”. Some even go as far as threaten not buy Kenya’s coffee and flowers, if he is elected.
As agents of regime change, Mr Odinga and Mr Musyoka should know they are hypocrites for trying to undermine the rights of every citizen’s freedom to make a political choice.
Article 1 of the Constitution stipulates that all sovereign power belongs to the people of Kenya who may exercise either themselves or through their democratically elected representatives.
These Cord attacks are bad political tactics to sway the vote their way. It preaches nothing but chaos and bloodshed if the Jubilee wins.
It is trying to blind the public what the Jubilee stands for. The agenda of the Jubilee is credible. It is about bringing peace and harmony and in the spirit of brotherhood seek to iron out the Kikuyu-Kalenjin discord.
It can be likened to the South Africa’s Nelson Mandela and Frederik de Klerk who together ended apartheid. Or the European Union which brought together countries like France, Germany and UK, that were enemies in the Second World War (1939-1945). These are examples of how people can work towards a peaceful future despite the murderous and dark past they once shared.
Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto are on the road of peace and harmony to get the Kikuyus and Kalenjins to bury the hatchet forever. Having a peaceful Rift Valley, the bread basket of Kenya, will only mean prosperity for the entire country.
The Cord rallies should take a lesson from the Jubilee and talk about policies, not the ICC which will not be an issue until April which is after the election.

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