NGOs say Uhuru and Ruto stirring ethnic strife

Friday, 01 April 2011 00:03 BY RAMADHAN RAJAB

Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and MP William Ruto are inciting ethnic violence with President Kibaki’s blessings, civil society groups claimed yesterday.
The mobilization by Ruto, Uhuru and the letter by President Kibaki to the President of the Assembly of State Parties through Kenya’s permanent representative to the UN, Macharia Kamau, that Hague process is being used to whip up emotions and a plot to block 2012 front runners Uhuru and Ruto revealed their plot to stir ethnic hatred and spark off violence.
Activists - at a forum hosted by Centre for Multiparty Democracy in Nairobi yesterday - said there was a scheme to pit communities against each other and shield the two politicians from justice.“Through the letter, the president has promised the country war if Kenyans don’t support their move to shield the two from facing the justice at the Hague and the political mobilization orchestrated by Uhuru and Ruto under the watchful eye of Kibaki is to prepare the ground for conflict and this is unacceptable,” lawyer George Kegoro, executive director of International Centre for Jurist, said.
They claimed Kibaki has given Uhuru and Ruto the freedom to roam and threaten those who do not support their bid to evade the Hague trials.“Ruto and Uhuru are walking around in their communities to make them feel that ICC is targeting and putting the entire communities on trial. They want to drag the communities to carry arms and fight to protect them against communities they perceive as enemies. Uhuru and Ruto should carry their own problems and not force it on their communities,” Gladwell Otieno the executive director African Centre for Open Governance.
On Monday the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights via commissioner Hassan Omar accused Ruto and Uhuru for raising ethnic tensions through their political rallies. KNCHR said it holds the two to account if the country relapses into ethnic conflict.
In yesterday’s forum on the ICC, the civil society groups castigated the politicization of the Hague process and called on Kibaki to stop perpetuating partisan political interests.“Kibaki’s logic is that some people can be held to account if they are not influential, but those around him and who wield political power irrespective of the magnitude of their criminal liabilities have political immunity. This is impunity we should not entertain,” Kegoro said.
They accused Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka for misleading the public and embarrassing Kenya with his futile shuttle diplomacy to get the ICC cases deferred. “Kalonzo is a perpetual liar. He is playing with ICC to deceive Uhuru's and Ruto's communities that he is helping them so as he gains sympathy votes because he knows that he will not succeed in his diplomacy and ultimately the six will end up being tried at the Hague,” Larry Gumbe of CMD said. Gumbe said ICC is the only way to end impunity and bloodshed. He dismissed attempts to try the suspects in Kenya.
The activists told Cabinet Secretary Francis Muthaura and Finance Minister Uhuru to quit the public jobs.