Kalonzo terms mission to UN successful

By Juma KwayeraThe response to Kenya’s shuttle diplomacy at the UN and State Department was curt and definitive: Kenya is wasting taxpayer’s money to shield the six post-election suspects from facing criminal justice at The Hague.
In what is also billed as a decisive moment in Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka tortuous quest to succeed President Kibaki, the shuttle diplomacy mission he leads is set to have a major impact on his political career as the country enters the decisive phase in constitutional reforms.
After a tour of the US, Europe and Japan to lobby the respective governments to support Nairobi’s bid to reschedule prosecution of the ‘Ocampo Six’, the verdict of the public is it was a massive flop that casts the VP is an opportunist. In the same Government, there are those who consider the ‘Kalonzo Six’ as innocent messengers of a president desperate to salvage his legacy.

Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka (centre) arrives from New York accompanied by Nairobi Metropolitan Minister Njeru Githae (left), Kangundo MP Johnstonne Muthama. Photo: Collins Kweyu/Standard

Dubbed by critics as mission impossible, the round-the-globe tour by the VP’s delegation has intensified divisions in the Cabinet, where even ministers who still had some modicum of sympathy for the VP concede the foreign trips have left him vulnerable to unremitting attacks.
Massive flopIn need of a springboard to rope in the support of Rift Valley and Central provinces, the Vice President now finds himself having to parry allegations of deliberately misleading the president so he can reap from the misfortune of the six the International Criminal Court has summoned to The Hague.
Before he left the country, Kalonzo said he was ‘special envoy of the president’ and the President was beyond reproach.
With three out of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (UNSC) having slammed the door on Kenya, ministers agree the Cabinet is sharply divided on the efficacy of the diplomacy. In their firing line is Kalonzo.
Even the President’s side of the coalition feeling that Kibaki and his deputy are engaged in a discreet succession politics in the event the other two aspirants — Eldoret MP William Ruto and Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta — are barred by ICC indictments, is gaining currency.
On Friday, Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Mutula Kilonzo launched a scathing criticism on Kalonzo, his party boss in ODM-Kenya, for using the shuttle diplomacy to raise his profile in preparation of next year’s presidential election.
As Kalonzo arrived in Tokyo on Friday, Mutula termed as "cheap politics" and "a ridiculous strategy" attempts to use a political process to shield the six suspects from international criminal justice.
"The fact that the suspects had to go to The Hague arises from the suspicion that the Judiciary is not up the task," Mutula told a human right’s partners’ forum in Mombasa.
The other suspects are head of Civil Service Francis Muthaura, former police commissioner Mohammed Hussein Ali, former Industrialisation Minister Henry Kosgey and Kass FM radio presenter Joshua arap Sang.
With Western capitals having slammed the door on the diplomatic mission headed by Kalonzo, Fisheries Minister Amason Jefa Kingi says the onus is now on the Government to justify to the public the rationale of lobbying for reprieve of the six suspects.
Diplomacy missionKingi says the diplomacy mission comes with a heavy price on his future political ambitions.
"The President and the Vice President have sanctioned decisions that did not come to the Cabinet for approval. Since it was not discussed, the diplomatic missions cast Kalonzo as untrustworthy and not a team player. One can only conclude that the VP is seeking to tap into the ethnic support for Ruto and Uhuru, should ICC indict them," says Kingi.
Instructively, Ruto and Uhuru hail from regions with massive voting power. The VP has left no doubt he covets the two blocs.
However, in so doing he faces career-damaging accusations of being a stumbling block to justice and implementation of the new Constitution. His inconsistency in Parliament and failure to uphold the Constitution above presidential orders has earned him flak from both sides of the coalition.
While Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi derided Kalonzo as cavorting with dictators and human rights abusers, Assistant Water Mwangi Kiunjuri dismisses him as one without leadership credentials.
"There is nothing like leadership in PNU. Who is advocating for PNU? We have not identified who are leaders. It is clear Kalonzo, Uhuru and other leaders cannot be vested with the responsibility of elevating PNU to a strong opponents of ODM," Kiunjuri told The Standard on Sunday in a past interview.
In Kingi’s view: "We are seeing a situation where Kalonzo could be used to foment violence. There has been talk of imminent violence soon after Annan handed the envelope that had the six names to Ocampo. It never happened when ICC named the suspects. This is the lie Kalonzo is telling the international community. What message is he sending to the world?"
Strong opponentsDuring the tour of the US, where the team met UN Security Council President Li Baodong, Kalonzo was told in no uncertain terms that it is almost impossible to commute the cases against the Ocampo Six to a deferral.
However, yesterday, UNSC invited Kenya to an informal meeting this Wednesday to discuss the deferral of the ICC process.
When he met officials of the State Department, the Kenyan delegation that includes Agriculture Minister Sally Kosgei, East African Community Affairs Minister Hellen Sambili, Nairobi Metropolitan Assistant Minister Njeru Githae and Foreign Assistant Minister Momoima Onyonka, was told it was a wasting public resource to lobby US for support.
With Kibaki succession informing current political discourse ahead of the presidential poll expected next year, Kalonzo has succeeded in hogging national attention, which Kangundo MP Johnston Muthama, says has elevated him to national leader.
"It is wrong to suggest the VP is using the shuttle diplomacy for his personal ends. He did not name the suspects neither did he write the summonses. It is therefore political nonsense to say this is part of his 2012 presidential campaign strategy," says Muthama.
However, such stout defence of the VP is restricted to politics. Human rights groups say the shuttle diplomacy and the cost thereof amounts to dancing on the graves of victims of post-election violence.
Better advice"The vice president is a good lawyer. However, he has put his credibility on the line by pursuing a political agenda that serves his interests only. One would expect that having been minister for Foreign Affairs and his long service in the Cabinet would have put him in a better position to advise the Government," says Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) chairperson Florence Jaoko.