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Click here for the NewsAfrica Special Focus Article Top MPs face prosecution A NUMBER OF Kenya’s leading politicians may be headed for the International Criminal Court (ICC) over their role in the violence that wracked the country following the disputed 2007 presidential elections. ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo stepped in after the government failed to establish a local tribunal to try the post-poll violence ringleaders as recommended by its own commission of inquiry. To allay misgivings about the ICC’s lengthy investigation process, Moreno-Ocampo has vowed to move swiftly to ensure that the suspects face the law before Kenya goes to the polls in 2012. Using his own evidence and that gathered by the commission of inquiry, Moreno-Ocampo has compiled a damaging report that could see 10 people face charges of crimes against humanity by the end of the year. Although their names have not been revealed, the list is understood to include cabinet ministers, MPs, prominent business people and a state security official. Some have already hired prominent lawyers to defend them should the court issue arrest warrants against them. According to Kenya’s Sunday Nation newspaper, the ICC has also quietly taken several witnesses out of the country in the last few months ahead of the trials that are expected to rock Kenya’s political establishment. The post-election bloodshed claimed 1,500 lives and uprooted another 600,000 following accusations that President Mwai Kibaki had rigged the December 2007 election. The two-month crisis shattered Kenya’s image as a stable regional economic powerhouse and exposed decades-old ethnic rifts. It also showed how some members of the political elite were prepared to take extreme steps to cling onto power without fear of retribution. Moreno-Ocampo has pledged to end the culture of impunity. In a statement issued in October, he said, ‘Kenya will show how to manage past violence and how to create a peaceful process, for the upcoming elections in 2012. Kenya will be an example to the world.’ He added, ‘In order to prevent a recurrence of violence during the next election cycle, those most responsible for previous post-election violence must be held accountable. The ICC will prosecute those most responsible while the national accountability proceedings as defined by Parliament like the special tribunal will try lesser offenders and address compensation of victims.’ In the meantime, he has put his weight behind the recently established Truth, Justice and Reconcilliation Commission (TJRC) to address past injustices. The Justice Waki-led commission of inquiry had recommended the establishment of a special local tribunal to try the perpetrators of the post-poll violence. He also handed over a sealed an envelope containing the names of 10 key perpetrators to Kofi Annan, chief mediator in the talks that led to the establishment of a power-sharing government in February last year. In the event of the government failing to establish a local tribunal to try the suspects, the envelope was to be passed on to the ICC prosecutor. In February, the government tabled a bill in parliament to establish the tribunal but it was flung out by MPs. The ICC was then given the list of suspects in July. The Sunday Nation established that at least three cabinet ministers and one state security official are among those being probed by the ICC investigators. They include a cabinet minister from Rift Valley province who has been a strong advocate of truth and reconciliation as opposed to putting suspected ringleaders on trial. During the post election mayhem, he is said to have declared that only ‘Indians and Kalenjins’ would own businesses in his home town following the presidential election results, ‘coded language that was read as calling for the eviction from the area of people from other communities,’ the newspaper reported. The same politician is rumoured to have distributed money to about 300 youths who went on to commit atrocities, as well as organise transport for the militia. Another cabinet minister is a senior member of the coalition. He is said to have chaired a meeting at State House, Nairobi, where he organised members of the outlawed Mungiki sect to carry out revenge attacks in Naivasha. A senior official of a state security agency is also accused of carrying out indiscriminate killings, as has another minister from the Rift Valley. Kenya National Commission on Human Rights vice-chair Hassan Omar praised the ICC’s determination to act. He said, ‘Impunity can only be addressed by ensuring equality under the law. Every Kenyan must be punished for acting in ways that subvert the rule of law, and holding the perpetrators of violence to account will change the decades-old culture of politicians abusing the law at will.’ The ICC’s intervention comes as the US and the EU are stepping up the pressure on Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga to get their feuding coalition partners to work together. They want vexed land and constitutional issues to be resolved and an end to the endemic corruption that has tarnished the nation’s image for so long. Without decisive action, donor nations fear the culture of impunity could become even more entrenched, increasing the risk that violence could flare either before or during the 2012 election. Last month, the BBC reported that rival ethnic groups in Rift Valley Province, which bore the brunt of the post-election violence, had entered into an ‘ethnic arms race’ by buying ‘sophisticated weaponry’ smuggled across the border to protect themselves. In August, US Secretary of State Hillary Cilnton visited Kenya on the first leg of her seven-nation Africa tour to voice the US’ concerns. In September, the US government wrote to 15 top politicians and officials threatening them with sanctions because of their failure to promote the reform agenda. The move elicited an angry response from Kibaki, who wrote a letter of protest to President Obama. Although the 15 were not named, the Daily Nation revealed they included civil service boss Francis Muthaura, Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Cabinet Ministers William Ruto, Franklin Bett, John Michuki and Mutula Kilonzo. Others were joint chief whips Jakoyo Midiwo and George Thuo. Only Kilonzo admitted in public to having received the letter. One of the 15 has now been served with a travel ban for being ‘obstructive to reforms’. Announcing the development in Nairobi, US Assistant Secretary for African Affairs, Johnnie Carson, said, ‘For 15 years, grand corruption has reigned such as Anglo Leasing but not one top officer has been found guilty. Millions of dollars that could have been used to build schools have disappeared and the Attorney-General and the Judiciary are responsible.’ He declined to name the banned official but said he has a US visa and travels to the country widely on government business. Carson, a former US ambassador to Kenya during President Moi’s tenure, said three more officials were also due to face sanctions. He said he was delivering a message from Obama and Clinton who are determined to see that Kenya does not return to violence come 2012. ‘We have focused our attention on individuals who have not used their offices well. We have had enough talk, we want action. The US is prepared to impose visa bans on those who stand against reforms. We hope other countries will follow. This is a powerful signal because the individual cannot travel to the US for business or personal pleasure,’ he added. The government’s reaction was fast and furious. Foreign affairs minister Moses Wetangula condemned the move, terming it ‘megaphone diplomacy’. ‘The US is conducting our affairs from the rooftop,’ he complained. Early last month following a meeting with Kibaki and Odinga in Nairobi, Annan expressed his own disappointment at the slow pace of the reform agenda. ‘The window for reforms is rapidly closing,’ he told a news conference at Nairobi following talks with the government last month. ‘Kenya is past the half mark of the formation of the coalition government and the next electoral cycle. The pace of reforms must be accelerated to avoid a recurrence of the crisis and violence that engulfed the country in 2007.’ The EU then weighed in, with Swedish ambassador to Kenya, Anna Brandt, saying, ‘For EU, implementation of the National Accord and Reconciliation Act [signed on the formation of the unity government in February 2008] is vital for a peaceful and prosperous Kenya. We recognise that progress has been made but we believe that urgent and decisive action is needed to ensure full and timely implementation of the reforms set out in the National Accord.’ The UK has also targeted 20 officials for a visa ban. The British High Commissioner to Kenya Rob McCaire said the information would be communicated to the affected individuals. |
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