Leaders trade barbs over Ocampo Six trials at burial

Prime Minister Raila Odinga with Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka during the burial of former Tharaka MP James Njeru Gituriandu in Tharaka South District on March 20, 2011. Photo/PMPS 

By NATION CORRESPONDENT
Posted Sunday, March 20 2011 at 22:08

Three presidential hopefuls on Sunday tore into each other when they shared a rare platform at a burial in Kamwanki village, Tharaka South district.

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Prime Minister Raila Odinga, Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka and former Justice minister Martha Karua traded accusations on the trials of suspected violence perpetrators and the so-called KKK alliance.

Ms Karua said she was disappointed that a lot of money and was being pumped into a bid to defer the Ocampo Six trials.

She said MPs who frustrated her bid to set up a local tribunal were now calling for it.

“We passed the Bill on a local tribunal at Cabinet level but when I took it to Parliament, they deserted me and told me not to be vague but embrace The Hague. Now you should go to The Hague and face justice,” she said.

She said supporters of the Ocampo Six were not interested in establishing a local tribunal as they had not shown any enthusiasm in doing so since the VP started his shuttle diplomacy.

“MPs are not keen to settle the issue here. Why haven’t they brought another Bill on a local tribunal?” she asked.

Mr Musyoka insisted his shuttle diplomacy had not failed and he was awaiting a favourable response from the Security Council.

“When I went to New York, I did not make a formal application. It was an informal consultation. To say we have lost is not right,” he said at the burial of former Defence assistance minister James Njeru Gituriandu.

He said the government still had a lot of options at its disposal to ensure more people than the six named by International Criminal Court prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo were tried for the violence that followed the 2007 General Elections.

“The law will eventually catch up with the real perpetrators. The ghosts of impunity must be slain,” he said.

Mr Musyoka and Mr Odinga exchanged bitter words over the continued use of the term KKK, with the VP directing National Cohesion and Integration Commission chairman Mzalendo Kibunjia, who was present, to take action against the PM who he accused of using the term to alienate certain communities.

Mr Odinga countered that it was Mr Musyoka and his political allies who started using the term and should not cry foul when others did so.

“Kenyans did not just wake up and start using the term. There is no need to urge Mr Kibunjia to ban its use. Mr Musyoka should just repent and be forgiven,” he said.