Kenya may become a political guinea pig in the International arena
As the Kenya Presidential debate progressed on the evening of 11th February 2013, “the big elephant” suddenly walked into the room – the ICC question. If I were to be the chief examiner relying on answers given by the candidates as a yard-stick to grade them on the ICC issue, Mohammed Abduda Dida scoops the prize, Martha Karua comes second, Raila comes third, Peter Kenneth takes the fourth position, Mudavadi takes fifth position while Paul Muite comes last. Ole Kiyiapi cannot be graded while Uhuru Kenyatta gets disqualified because of answering the wrong question. What is my motivation?
Dida is the only candidate who clearly disagreed with the fact that Uhuruto’s names were on the ballot. He wondered aloud why a Clerk facing charges in a court of law should step down while in the case of Uhuru, it was business as usual. Martha Karua came close to this position by wondering whether Uhuru will be suspended before or after he takes office in case he is elected President. According to Karua, any Kenyan can file a case in court after election for Uhuru’s suspension on grounds of the Constitution with the likelihood that such a case might succeed.
Raila comes third because he did not openly disagree with Uhuru’s failure to step aside but expressed the difficulties of running a country through Skype while in The Hague. Peter Kenneth comes after Raila because his main problem was that Uhuru is not locked out of the process of elections because of the ICC cases. Muite comes last because despite his legal background, he forgot that the ICC cases came about after investigations by Justice Waki who handed over the envelopes to Kofi Annan who subsequently forwarded the envelope to ICC where it was later discovered that Uhuruto’s names were in the big list.
Muite comes last because although he had a right to pontificate that the two principles ought to take part of the responsibility for the 2007 chaos, this is a view he ought to have expressed to Waki, Anan or ICC way back in 2008, not to Raila who was not involved in the investigations. If Muite could forget about the fact that the names emerged through the Waki report, one may wonder whether he still remembers where State House is located after he went underground following his rejection by his own people in 2007. James ole Kiyiapi cannot be graded because he ran out of time and never made his point clear. Uhuru is disqualified because of one reason.
Instead of clarifying how he would run Kenya with the ICC cases on his neck, he instead, linked the case to a personal challenge he was facing. Observing that every Kenyan (including the presidential candidates) had personal challenges, Uhuru sought to portray the ICC problem as a human problem, not a huge political crisis that has never been witnessed in Kenya since the Mau Mau took up arms to resist the British colonialists before they were betrayed by home guards. In taking the “personal challenge” line of defence, Uhuru failed to recognize that Kenyans may be experiencing personal problems but that if such problems are of a legal nature and connected to mass murder, the problem ceases to be personal but judicial. In his case, the problem is actually international while the case carries with it grave consequences for the Kenyan nation should Uhuru be elected president.
First, the candidacy of Uhuruto demonstrates to the world that with the catalogue of political reforms which includes a new Constitution to boot, the Republic of Kenya has failed miserably to stop two suspects of crimes against humanity from having their names printed on the ballot paper. The original stopping point could have been section 6 of the new Constitution which failed as the Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution slept. The next stop could have been the courts which also failed while the last hope was IEBC where everything flopped and the suspects were given green light to vie.
The suspects could be summoned to The Hague then locked
The lesson here is that with all the reverence attached to it, the Constitution is a piece of paper for if it was that sacrosanct, how did key suspects of crimes against humanity filter through it to present themselves as Presidential candidates? At the international arena, Kenya is nothing but a laughing stock because after abandoning the colonial-style constitution which we claimed was “imperialistic” we have been unable to follow one crafted by ourselves and now, suspected criminals are seeking to lead the nation to a disaster of unknown proportions.
The second problem is that with names of ICC suspects on the ballot, the people of Kenya have officially been converted into political guinea pigs to study whether there is anybody anywhere in the world (it has never happened) who can knowingly vote for a President and a Vice president who are principle suspects of crimes against humanity at the ICC.
The starting point for psychologists, sociologists, diplomats, political scientists and global anthropologists who will be watching the experiment is that a registered voter is a sane person who can make wise and informed decisions especially on such a critical issue of electing a country’s top Chief Executive. The fact that this kind of situation has presented itself is unique but for observers who fully understand the major implications of electing these suspects to Office, the disturbing issue will be how the people of Kenya will be mentally categorized (depending on the outcome). Already, some warnings about “serious consequences” have been sent by sympathizers and good Samaritans who believe that Kenyans may be heading into a ditch. Apart from recent warnings, Kofi Annan came back personally to warn us followed by Fatou Bensouda of the ICC and Hilary Clinton.
As a sovereign nation (a status we invoke liberally every time we are warned about ICC matters) another experiment which will be running on the side-lines is the political segment designed to establish what happens in case ICC suspects charged with crimes against humanity are actually elected to office in a Third World country in Africa. In fact, many experts are waiting to write books on the subject depending on what happens in Kenya.
May be, our European exploiters probably know that after we probably elect the suspects to Office, and since Britain is currently the “In Charge” of the ICC’s “remote control”, the suspects will be summoned to The Hague and after their arrival, the cunning Britons will press a button and our newly elected leaders will remain locked in the ICC cells indefinitely to attend to their cases. It is at this point that the experiment as to what will happen to the Kenyan nation will begin. If this happens, the exciting part of the experiment is that our new constitution does not cover this kind of scenario and it is too late to amend the Constitution because our Parliament has been dissolved. It is notable that it is the ICC which announced that the cases will start after elections, probably to set the stage for the secret experiment which could have been code named: “Operation Kenya Lockup 2013”.
Under the circumstances, and if I were one of the presidential candidates on the podium, my humble opinion could have been that both Uhuru and Ruto should first suffer a clean defeat at the 4th March polls (because their names will be on the ballot) before being locked at The Hague to face trial and if found guilty, they should be jailed for life as compensation for the thousands of lives which were lost during PEV, billions worth of property that was destroyed and the creation of half a million internal refugees in Kenya. Currently, it is only through a clear defeat at the hands of Kenyan voters that the country can be saved from what could be a looming post-election national disaster likely to make the 2007 disturbances look like a Tea Party.
Okoth Osewe
Secretary General
Kenya Red Alliance (KRA)
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About the Author
My judgement of the presidential candidates’ performance on the question of ICC is that none of them was realistic. They hid the truth for fear of being judged wrongly by UHURUTOS psychophants. This shows that they are not bold enough to defend their country without trying to please some particular class of people. I thought RAO could put aside his caution and say the truth being the self styled reformer we admire but it turned out he was as cauteous as the rest leaving Martha and Dida to steal the show. Most Kenyans are in a class of following what their political leaders tell them as gospel truth and that is why these politicians should caution them that we need good international relationship for speedy development.
This attitude of risking our country become a parriar just because we adore a few masters of impunity is postponing problems by shelving them under the carpet only to emerge later and haunt us. If we want to heal our country once and for all it were better for us to clear all hurdles by facing them head on insteady of creating a HOLLIER-THAN-THOU attitude by dilly dallying over the issue as if we were just commenting on the weather.
Let us ask our brothers with cases at the HAGUE to shelve their leadership ambitions now and concentrate on clearing their names first if they trully love our country. Five years is not long. They will ask for our votes again. Why are they keen on pulling the whole country with them as if it is the entire country on trial?
Uhuru got emotive on the weighty ICC question during the recent debate by claiming it was a personal matter. How personal is it, yet the government is taking care of his Valentine’s Day video date for the status conference, according to the media? I concur with the sentiments expressed in this article that Uhuru scored zero on how he shall govern Kenya.
Uhuru was not assigned by Government to sponsor the revenge attacks on Luos and Kalenjins in Naivasha; it was a private matter allegedly planned at State House. Why then, does Kibaki’s side of government waste taxpayers’ money on this suspect who is one of the richest people in Africa? A case in point was the failed shuttle diplomacy that cost taxpayers’ millions of dollars. The Kenyan embassy in The Hague was allotted more budgetary money to take care of the suspects during their meetings at the ICC. It was a great shame during their first appearance that taxpayers’ money was wasted to hire fuel guzzling Mercedes Benz limousines to shuttle them back and forth their hotels. The Kenyan Ambassador was used to officially receive the Kikuyu chieftain Uhuru, as if his case was about Kenya.
The direct concern by Kibaki’s side of Government through statements by Foreign Minister Ongeri and the head of Civil Service Francis Kimemia, shows clearly that the new Constitution is merely a piece of paper that can be abused at will especially on integrity and leadership matters. Kibaki’s high level of impunity exhibited throughout his 10-year rule has contributed to the perpetual moral and ethical decay in Kenya. I am sure all the Ocampo Four (especially Uhuru and Muthaura), have a secret Government budget to assist their ICC cases, such as legal fees and logistics costs.
Presidential candidate Dida won top marks at the debate by challenging Uhuru’s insistence that it is the Kenyan people who want him to run for the presidency. Which Kenyan people, yet the Jubilee Alliance is composed of Kalenjins and Kikuyus? The late Michuki said that whoever wanted to deal with the Kikuyu must go through Uhuru Kenyatta.
Uhuru is definitely the Prince of Impunity and his win will be the biggest lose to Kenya, particularly in implementing the new Constitution.
Kenya this could be your future…
Uhuru Kenyatta cannot be locked in any cell hence he wins in every case or in any contest>UHURU KENYATTA did NOT WIN the debate – PETER KENNETH rubbishes the OPINION POLLS
The Kenyan DAILY POST Politics 23:59
Friday February 15, 2013 – Eagle alliance Presidential candidate Peter Kenneth has rubbished the recently carried survey by Ipsos Synovate poll, which showed Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta trouncing his rivals in Monday’s Presidential debate.
Speaking at a rally in Siaya County on Thursday, Kenneth, who is also the immediate former Gatanga MP, dismissed the opinion poll describing it as useless and baseless.
Kenneth said no one won the debate except Kenyans who took time to watch the debate.“The winners are Kenyans who watched diligently,” Kenneth said.
The Ipsos Synovate poll released on Tuesday says Mr Kenneth came third with seven percent after Jubilee candidate Uhuru Kenyatta, who led with 40 percent and CORD candidate Raila Odinga with 33 percent.
Mr Kenneth said opinion polls have been lying to Kenyans for a long time and it is time the government acts on them.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
What does constitution says about a scenerio where by bad luck prerident and depudy are detained at icc ? Experts, please explain! ..