Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka addresses the media at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport March 12 2011. He is flanked by Kangundo MP Johnstone Muthama. He said three permanent UN Security Council members should abstain from the ICC deferral vote. FREDRICK ONYANGO
By WALTER MENYA, wmenya@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Saturday, March 12 2011 at 17:25
Posted Saturday, March 12 2011 at 17:25
Kenya wants three permanent members of the United Nations Security Council to abstain from voting when the country’s application for deferral of post election cases comes before it.
The three, USA, United Kingdom and France have all stated that they will not support the request, and have threatened to exercise their veto power during the vote.
Upon his arrival from the latest leg of shuttle diplomacy, Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka said the next phase of the charm offensive would be to persuade the three to abstain.
The VP’s mission suffered a major blow when the US, which wields veto power, said that it would not support the bid to defer the cases. This happened shortly after Mr Musyoka had met US deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg in New York.
But the VP said this was expected.
“During our discussions with Ms (Susan) Rice, she expressed fears that Kenya may not get the nine votes it requires. We knew that America did not want to support this request. All we wanted was abstention,” he said.
“All we wanted from them – US, UK and France is abstention from voting.”
He said that Russia and China, the two other permanent members have given their strong commitment to support Kenya.
Kenya needs at least nine affirmative votes to have the application sail through with the concurrent votes of the five permanent members – US, UK, France, China and Russia. Abstention by a permanent member does not affect the vote and does not amount to a veto.
“This is such a critical issue that the world cannot ignore it,” he said adding that the government was not protecting the Ocampo Six but was intent on serving justice to all.
“The country is interested in justice for all – the six individuals, the victims and the IDPs – but there is also the critical matter of peace and reconciliation.”
Mr Musyoka was full of optimism that Kenya’s bid to have the post-election cases deferred will sail through the UN Security Council.
The VP said the mission was largely successful culminating in Kenya securing an informal meeting with the UN on Wednesday.
Mr Musyoka, who was addressing the press at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport upon his arrival, said 10 countries that are represented in the Security Council have approved the request and will support it while the rest requested for more discussions.
But a diplomat, speaking to the Reuters news agency, doubted this theory.
"We're happy to meet with the Kenyans and discuss it with them," a Western diplomat said.
"But I don't know of a single council member who actively supports the idea of a deferral."
Mr Musyoka led a team of special envoys appointed by President Kibaki to approach the Security Council members to seek support for the deferral of the post election cases.
The special envoys are cabinet ministers George Saitoti, Dr Sally Kosgei, Njeru Githae, Hellen Sambili, Chirau Ali Mwakwere, and assistant minister Richard Onyonka.
Mr Githae, who accompanied the Vice President, hailed the mission as a ‘total success’ and blamed the local media for distorting facts.
According to Mr Githae, the fact that the team was able to meet with representatives of the five veto-wielding members makes the assignment a success.
He took on the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber for rushing with the issuance of summonses to appear for the six suspects, claiming it was calculated to scuttle the shuttle diplomacy.
“When the ICC heard of our success, they panicked and even issued summonses when they were not ready. You can see it has taken them long to publish the dissenting judgment,” he said.
The VP on his part said Kenya was ready and willing to set up a local mechanism to try not only the six individuals named by the ICC but others too.
‘’The moment we are through with vetting of judges and magistrates, the appointment f a chief justice and that of the director of public prosecutions, we shall put a mechanism in place and prosecution will take place everywhere.”
In a warning directed to the ODM wing of the coalition opposed to the deferrals, he said it was too early to celebrate because the long arm of the law will reach them.
According to Mr Githae, the team made it clear in their discussions with the UNSC members that the violence started when PM Raila Odinga rejected the outcome of the election.
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