CLAIMS ON PM ALLEGED ROLE IN ICC SUMMONSES:

Allegations by a section of MPs to the effect that Prime Minister Raila Odinga may have had a hand in the timing of the summonses against six public figures suspected to bear the greatest responsibility for the post-election violence are shallow and hollow.
Opponents of the Prime Minister have never been interested in an honest and truthful handling of the ICC issue. The latest outburst is just part of the pattern of lies that have characterized this debate.
These politicians knew from the start that Justice Philip Waki, who investigated the violence, had handed over names of suspects to Dr Kofi Annan, in a sealed envelop, more than a year ago. Yet when the names were finally disclosed, these same politicians, caring nothing about integrity that should come with leadership, conveniently forgot that there was a Waki envelop and turned around to claim that it was Mr Odinga who had authored the names that Mr Ocampo released.
The politicians know that they had the option of either setting up a local tribunal to try suspects of post election violence or letting the ICC take over the process. They also know that they voted in Parliament for the cases to be sent to the ICC. The MP who made claims today, are among those who voted against the establishment of a local tribunal. Yet when ICC did take over, the same politicians turned around to claim it was PM Odinga who sent the cases to ICC.
These claims, particularly the latest, confirm that these are politicians who pushed for ICC to take over out of a vain hope that that ICC date would never come. They also ignore that when Mr Ocampo made public the names of suspects last December, he promised to announce the next move in March 2011, a time line he kept. The allegations made today are therefore claims by leaders who seem to believe that politics is about what works at the moment and who care nothing about the next day. In their short-sightedness, they thought the ICC process would never kick off and that Mr Ocampo would never stick to his time lines.
The PM sees all these claims as part of the culture of lies and dishonesty that have gripped our politics and public life in recent years and which have put the country where it is today. He sees them as a desperate effort to defend impunity and defeat justice.
He is however disappointed that leaders can live by telling lies to citizens and still hope to lead the country into commanding respect among the community of civilized nations and into better days ahead.
DENNIS ONYANGO
14.03.2011