Uhuru Loses

Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta Friday lost a bid to have his name expunged from a Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) linking him to the 2007 post election violence.

The High court however criticized the commission for not giving Uhuru a chance to defend himself against the allegations before publishing his name in the report.

Justices Roslyn Wendo and Abida Ali said that the commission violated Uhuru's right to be heard before his name was included in the report.

The judges further ruled that the commission as a protector of human rights had failed to uphold cardinal rules of natural justice by not summoning Uhuru to confront allegations made against him before they published his name.

The court however ruled that Kenyatta's rights in the case have been outweighed by public interest.

In December last year Kenyatta moved to court seeking his name be expunged from the list of those who the Commission said had attended a fund raising meeting in Nairobi hotels to raise money to buy weapons from Ethiopia.

The court observed that it is too late to expunge Uhuru's name saying that it has already reached the targeted audience.

Other ministers mentioned adversely include Sally Kosgei, William ole Ntimama and Najib Balala. Higher Education minister William Ruto has made a similar application seeking to have his name cleared.

KNCHR last year released a final report naming seven cabinet ministers, and 10 members of parliament as perpetrators of the post election violence that rocked Kenya last year.

Others that the commission had mentioned are Sports Assistance Minister Kabando wa Kabando, Limuru MP Peter Mwathi and PNU activist Mary Wambui.

The human rights watchdog chairperson Florence Jaoko said the report is the same that the commission handed over to the Waki Commission during its hearings.

It is still not known whether those listed by the Commission were the same individuals in the Waki envelope that is now with the International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo.

Also listed in the report were top security officials, police officers, religious leaders, chiefs, several vernacular radio stations who are accused of engineered of the post election violence.

In total, there are 219 persons and organizations named in the report. The KNHCR report entitled On the Brink of the Precipice: contained a diagram of a triangle where those at the apex are considered to bear the "greatest responsibility".

At the top of the triangle are the "Remote perpetrators: overall planners, financiers, instigators and organisers". They are followed by "mid-level perpetrators - give and receive instructions or orders, lead local implementation of plans".

Then at the bottom of the triangle come "low level perpetrators, directly committing acts of violence".