VP says State spent 'moderate' Sh31m in shuttle diplomacy

The Government has spent Sh31.5 million in shuttle diplomacy to lobby African governments for deferral of International Criminal Court (ICC) investigations in Kenya.
According to a tally issued by Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka in Parliament yesterday, these monies came from the Foreign Affairs Ministry, Office of the Vice-President, Parliament, and other ministries.
The VP described this figure as modest, and revealed more money would be spent to lobby the veto wielding five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. The Council is expected to vote on an African Union resolution calling for the 12-month delay of the cases.
But there is no intention by the Government to apply for deferral directly to the ICC at The Hague under Article 19 of the Rome Statute because "that way you do not take back your sovereignty".
"The figures I have given show we have been very moderate in our expenditure," said Kalonzo, adding it is in Kenya’s interest to lobby the five permanent members of the Security Council.
These include USA, Russia, China, France and the United Kingdom.
But Gichugu MP Martha Karua alleged the crusade is driven by the "comfort of the Ocampo Six". Kisumu Town West MP Olago Aluoch accused Kalonzo of unquestioning loyalty in accepting President Kibaki’s orders to lead what Ikolomani MP Bonny Khalwale described as "an exercise in futility".
The VP admitted that extensive consultations were done in Government over the lobbying, but no direct consultations with victims of the 2007/2008 post-election violence, which is under ICC probe was made.
Collective decision
Kalonzo, who led the missions, claimed Cabinet authorised the lobbying last year and accused Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) opponents of "jumping out of the collective decision to gain political mileage".
ODM has denied such a Cabinet meeting took place while Justice Minister Mutula Kilonzo of Kalonzo’s ODM-Kenya has also opposed the visits by the VP.
The lobbyists have visited Libya, Nigeria, Botswana, Malawi, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Burundi.
The VP declared that the purpose of the missions was to reclaim Kenya’s sovereignty by securing local trials for the six Kenyans. "Kenya is nowhere near a failed state," he added.
Yesterday, the VP was under pressure from hostile members who accused him of fostering a double standards over the principle of sovereignty and campaign to protect ICC suspects.
Nominated MP, Sheikh Mohamed Dor Yakub, said the slogan of national sovereignty and pride in local institutions was not raised when the authorities illegally deported 13 Kenyans to face terrorism charges in Uganda.
Karua further accused the Government of ignoring the wishes of the internally displaced people when launching the shuttle diplomacy.
-—Reports by David Ochami, Peter Opiyo and Martin Mutua