It’s not too late for angry Uhuru to redeem himself

 

By PHILIP OCHIENGPosted Saturday, February 26 2011 at 16:54

As a presidential candidate facing Moreno-Ocampo, Uhuru Kenyatta has until recently behaved with admirable wisdom. He seemed to know that -- no matter how passionately and how many times you repeat it -- no amount of self-defence uttered outside a court of law will cut any ice in that court when the case comes up.

Unfortunately, however, the young man has now lost his cool. He seems to have borrowed the wrong leaf from William Ruto, the other accused with ambitions for State House.

Mr Ruto lost all sense of moderation and propriety as soon as he came face to face with The Hague and other serious criminal court cases.

He bestrides the narrow valley like a colossus with chest-thumping heroics and self-aggrandisement. Yet, predictably -- what with oratory that would put Cicero in the shade -- he carries in his wake tens of thousands of the ordinary latter-day “Romans” who attend his political rallies in his Rift Valley parish.

Like the children of Hamelin -- whose fate Robert Browning depicts so movingly in poetry -- the Kalenjin ride behind the Pied Piper with complete abandon.

The Hanoverian legend is a powerful warning against ecclesiastical and other con men who seek to enrich themselves by selling “instant salvation” to the gullible.

Yet Mr Ruto may, indeed, be innocent. In fact, he is. For none of us has a right to declare him guilty unheard. Only a court of justice can do so. The problem lies only in Mr Ruto’s repeated allegation that his political “enemies” in the presidential race are the ones to blame for his forensic tribulations.

Ruto’s words are dangerous even to himself

Of course, he may be right even there. Again, only a judicial official may judge contrariwise. Nevertheless, Mr Ruto’s words are dangerous even to himself. First, he is a lawmaker. He ought to be aware of his own legislative ban on defamation.

Every Kenyan child knows who Mr Ruto’s alleged “enemies” are. Any one of them can take him to court to claim damages.

A man facing so many court cases should measure his words to avoid another court case.

But, even more serious, his statements imply that The Hague -- especially Senor Ocampo -- is colluding with Mr Ruto’s “enemies” to do him in.

Again, this makes an implicit accusation against The Hague. It is that the court is consciously taking political sides in Kenya; that its investigators have pocketed substantial bribes from Mr Ruto’s “enemies”; or that the investigators do not have the intelligence to distinguish between genuine evidence and political intrigue.

In short, if the ICC’s witnesses have been suborned, then the ICC is either thoroughly incompetent or thoroughly venal or both. Of course, from my armchair, I cannot absolve the ICC of any of these charges. The only question for those who make the allegations is: Where is the proof?

And, although the ICC judges are not supposed to be influenced by such innuendoes or to listen to such out-of-court self-aggrandisement, they are only human.

They can take offence and turn subjectively against you. That is my fear for Mr Kenyatta. He is accusing unnamed opponents of having betrayed him to The Hague to boost their presidential chances.

As far as the law is concerned, ignorance is no excuse. Not only Raila Odinga but even Martha Karua can legitimately tell a court that they are the ones Mr Kenyatta has in mind and that his statement has destroyed their names worldwide.

More incredible was the insolence toward the Prime Minister, uttered in the Kikuyu language, last week.

It revealed bigotry, insularity and absence of social education quite unworthy of a man who wants to become Kenya’s president.

But it is not too late. He can still redeem himself by not allowing fear of The Hague to lead him in the Ruto direction, endangering his political judgements, sense of propriety and common courtesy.

ochiengotani@ke.nationmedia.com