Kibaki should keep his cool as MPs lose theirs

OKECH KENDO
President Kibaki shall serve the national interest better by keeping his cool as enraged MPs lose their heads in righteous rage.
MPs are angry, but their anger is not serving the national interest, so the President better consider the public good before acting, either way, on a Motion to spike the International Criminal Court.
The President should listen to the better judgement of reason, which the ordinary people share. The President should listen, and listen hard, with ears to the wall of public opinion.
Two opinion polls show the majority of Kenyans want the International Criminal Court to handle cases of potential suspects, who are thought to bear the greatest responsibility for post-election violence.
Infotrak opinion survey, released three days after Luis Moreno-Ocampo named six potential suspects on December 15, shows majority of Kenyans trust the ICC as a fair arbiter of justice. They believe since the ICC is not beholden to local rivalries, ethnic loyalties, and partisan political sensitivities it should administer justice for the victims and suspects of post-election violence.
A week later, another opinion survey by Synovate, the former Steadman, confirmed the public has confidence in The Hague. The public expects the ICC process to uproot the stump of impunity, which has been too heavy for local institutions.
A third opinion poll by Infrotrak, coming days after MPs passed a Motion seeking to withdraw Kenya from the province of ICC, shows wananchi have confidence in The Hague, to tame ascendant impunity.
Wananchi believe The Hague-based institution can deliver justice for victims and potential suspects. Justice, so to speak, is a double-edged sword, which cuts both ways. This opinion is informed by experience: Crimes for which ICC wants prosecutions were committed three years ago. But not a single high-ranking person, thought to bear heavier responsibility for it, has been tried. Similar crimes — arson, rape, murder and displacement of population — were also committed during the 1992 and 1997 General Elections, but there were no prosecutions.
Horrendous crimes
There is also no evidence anyone that high shall be tried in a local court for abetting post-election violence. There are no possibilities of such trials even though most of the crimes are within the province of the local justice system.
This system has either been unwilling or unable or both to deliver justice. It is because of this failure that ICC, a court of last resort, became an alternative.
Unless ICC intervenes now, there is a possibility similar crimes could be committed during the 2012 General Election. The people do not want these horrendous crimes repeated.
In the latest Infotrak survey, voters were essentially telling MPs off because wananchi have confidence in The Hague.
While their employers — the electorate — identify with the victims of the violence, MPs empathise with potential suspects. Some MPs are even considering raising money to hire defence lawyers for potential suspects.
About 1,200 Kenyans were killed in the mayhem, and about 650,000 were displaced. Thousands of the displaced peasants are still in refugee camps, three years after the violence. Justice has been delayed, and risks being denied.
Now, MPs want to stop the wheel of justice, which is rolling towards The Hague. They want President Kibaki to support their Motion seeking to withdraw Kenya from ICC jurisdiction to save their high-ranking colleagues the ignominy of trial in a foreign land. They have conveniently overlooked the fact some Kenyans are in cells in Uganda facing terrorism charges. The difference is that Kenyans in Uganda are low class citizens, with voting ambitions, rather than interest to run for president.
The ball is in President Kibaki’s court, tossed into his backyard by a coalition of the unwilling and the unable.
The unwilling and the unable are now telling President Kibaki and the world that, now that they are willing and able they should reclaim the country’s judicial independence from the ICC grip.
It is shameful, they say, and an affront to the country’s sovereignty, they claim, to surrender the prosecution of ‘innocent’ men of high status to a court in The Netherlands, in wintry Europe. They have forgotten about renditions of terror suspects to far-flung Guantanamo Bay.
The new Constitution, MPs claim, gave their newfound willingness and ability new gravitas.
Playing Lot’s wife
Although the new Constitution was promulgated on August 27, MPs, now sizzling with patriotism and love for sovereignty, realised these only after Ocampo cited six Kenyans who could face trial at The Hague for crimes against humanity.
The current resident of State House was once a smug occupant of the corner of the unwilling and the unable. But on the eighth year of his presidency, he saw the light, converted reluctantly, and boarded the change-wagon. Now, MPs want the President to play Lot’s wife, by endorsing a Motion, which the House passed last week, to withdraw Kenya’s subscription to the ICC.
Good sense suggests Kibaki should avoid the self-interest path of some MPs. The President should be guided by the public interest. Wananchi have spoken, and shall penalise duplicitous MPs in the right way, in the fullness of time.
Happy New Year and keep the fire of hope burning even brighter.
Writer is The Standard’s Managing Editor Quality and Production. The opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of The Standard.
kendo@standardmedia.co.ke