Sunday, March 6, 2011

Why Kalonzo’s mission is a tough one

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By KIPCHUMBA SOME ksome@ke.nationmedia.comPosted Saturday, March 5 2011 at 22:00

The ongoing tumultuous uprising in the Arab world could hamper Kenya’s spirited efforts to have the UN Security Council defer International Criminal Court’s cases against six Kenyans suspected to be behind the post-election mayhem.
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This week, Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka will be in New York to meet UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon to lobby his support for Kenya’s quest. Mr Moon has not made public his stand on whether he supports Kenya’s request or not.
But what is certain is that Kenya’s case is less likely to be on top of the most pressing global issues on his agenda for several months to come given the bloody revolutions spreading across the Arab world.
The unprecedented uprising in the Arab streets has gripped the world for nearly two months now, since the long-suffering Tunisians shouted their president out of office, setting off similar protests across the Middle-East.
Consequently, the attention of the UN and the world at large has shifted to urgently addressing the Arab revolt, more so following fears that Islamic fundamentalists could exploit the turmoil to entrench their roots in the conflicted nations.
As a matter of fact, it has been reported that Kenya’s case is not in the Security Council’s list of agenda for March.
Asked when the government was likely to present its case, Mr Kalonzo’s press secretary Mr Kaplich Barsito said a definite time is yet to be settled upon.
In addition, the events in the Middle East could serve as a reason for the Security Council not to grant Kenya the deferral request, according to one of the five Cabinet ministers named by the President to conduct round two of shuttle diplomacy.
Redeem image
“What is happening in the Middle East is a result of impunity of long-serving dictators supported by the West. Therefore the UN powers might be keener on showing that it does not support impunity and just as well use Kenya as a perfect nation to redeem their image,” said the minister who requested not to be named.
Contrary to the minister’s view, Mr Kaplich said it would instead bolster Kenya’s case.
“The Arab revolt is about changing institutions set up and supported by the West. As a result, the West has been forced to pay attention to Africa and let internal mechanisms to handle their issues. It is just similar to what we are asking the Security Council to do,” he said.
Later in March, the three ICC judges are expected to deliver their judgment on Mr Ocampo’s application to issue summonses to the six suspects, raising the possibility that the government’s efforts might be overtaken by events.
On Friday, President Kibaki appointed a team of special envoys, comprising of Cabinet ministers, to pitch Kenya’s case to Security Council, and especially the five permanent members – the US, France, Britain, China and Russia.
Besides VP Kalonzo, who has been the face of the shuttle diplomacy, other members of the team include Cabinet ministers Sally Kosgey (Agriculture), Hellen Sambili (East African Community), Njeru Githae (Nairobi Metropolitan), Chirau Mwakwere (Trade) and Foreign Affairs assistant minister Richard Onyonka.
Mr Musyoka has stated that his shuttle diplomatic efforts have so far secured the support of China and Russia. To be successful, Kenya needs to gain the support of nine of the 15-member Security Council and critically, the support of all the veto-wielding permanent members.
Through their local envoys, the US and Britain have indicated that their governments will not support the effort.
On Saturday reports indicated that France had resolved not to issue visas to ministers selected by President Kibaki to push for the deferral. France is against the deferral.
The members can vote in four ways: support, abstain, vote against or veto.
Two weeks ago, the government summoned to Nairobi more than 30 Kenyan ambassadors for debriefing on how to go about lobbying for Kenya’s position in their host countries.
However, speaking in confidence to the Sunday Nation, an ambassador serving in one of the Security Council member states termed the government’s efforts as an exercise in futility.

“The government is wrongly assuming that the international community is not aware of what is happening locally. How do you even start to convince people when members of the same government are pulling in different directions?” he said.

Meanwhile, 39 members of an informal network of civil society organisations from Africa have written to African ICC member-states to rescind their support for Kenya’s deferral bid.
“There is no indication that the ICC’s work in Kenya poses a threat to international peace and security. Rather than promote instability, the ICC’s investigations could counter a climate of impunity in Kenya, which many believe contributed significantly to the 2007-08 violence,” stated the letter.

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