Kibaki and his futile efforts to defer ICC prosecution of Ruto & Company

March 4, 2011
Headline: Kibaki unleashes five ministers to lobby for deferral of Kenya ICC cases

Any of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council can defeat Kibaki's effort to defer ICC’s prosecution of Ruto and his co-defendants. Two of the permanent members, US and UK, have categorically stated they will oppose therefore defeat any efforts to defer the prosecution. What then is Kibaki and his cadre’s objective for this so called lobbying? There cannot be any good reason for these efforts as far as the country is concerned.

As one who from the very beginning never believed anyone other than those who in fact committed criminal offenses should be prosecuted for events that occurred post-election, including Ruto, I find these efforts to lobby the UN against these odds totally mindless.

The sensible approach to address post-election violence has to be faithfulness to, or at least the absence of efforts to frustrate implementation of the new constitution and when that is done or at least when there is an appearance it is being done, then ICC can be persuaded to allow the establishment of a local tribunal to try these suspects who should be acquitted either at the Hague or in Kenya unless they in fact committed criminal offenses.

The irony is only Raila can save this bunch from going to the Hague by joining Kibaki in the quest for deferral and having a local tribunal set up to look into this but I don’t believe he could do so unless he is satisfied the culprits are not engaged in efforts to prevent or frustrate implementation of the new constitution and that there is actual judicial reform unstoppably taking place.

Kibaki’s recent about-face from torpedoing the constitution and imposing cronies in high office is a good first step going in this direction.