By KWENDO OPANGA
Posted Saturday, October 1 2011 at 17:33
Posted Saturday, October 1 2011 at 17:33
IN SUMMARY
- Satisfaction: Whether the ICC confirms or rejects the case against Mr Kenyatta, his legal team, co-suspects and his supporters will be satisfied with his courtroom performance on Thursday
From the outset, it was clear that the strategy of Finance minister Uhuru Kenyatta was to absolve himself of blame for the post-election violence and, having done that, place that responsibility squarely on Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s shoulders.
Thereafter, it was in local political terms a non-issue when International Criminal Court (ICC) Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo asked Mr Kenyatta whether Mr Odinga was criminally or politically culpable.
Mr Kenyatta had landed a solid punch on Mr Odinga’s exposed political chin: “He had political responsibility. If he did not hold press conferences using strong language in that period, if he followed due process and went to court and lastly had he used his political voice to tell supporters to stop the violence, the level of violence would not have been what it was.”
Mr Kenyatta, a politician, and having already stated that the populace is led by the politicians and knowing that a politician’s stock in trade is words, went for the kill following Mr Ocampo’s insistence on an answer on the matter of criminal or political responsibility:
Set up his punch
“I will not say he is criminally responsible because I have no evidence.” That was the jab that Mr Kenyatta used to set up this punch: “He who bears responsibility is the leader. The leader was Raila Odinga. He was the flag-bearer.”
Notice that Mr Kenyatta did not absolve Mr Odinga of criminal responsibility; he said he had no evidence the man was responsible.
That’s not only a good legal argument for purposes of Judge Ekaterina Trendafilova’s court, but was also a potent political jab at Mr Odinga.
Mr Odinga, therefore, served Mr Kenyatta’s case at The Hague in two ways; to show that the wrong man was in the dock and, therefore, cast aspersions on the performance of the ICC prosecution team led by Mr Moreno-Ocampo, and to settle political scores at home.
Mr Kenyatta’s Dream Team-style lawyers, which reminded me of OJ Simpson’s Jonnie Cochran-led group, targeted Mr Ocampo’s evidence, witnesses and investigative performance, persistently challenging their probity, integrity, credibility and sufficiency.
Outlawed movement
It was left to Mr Kenyatta to take care of the politics. Mr Ocampo’s evidence ties the outlawed Mungiki movement to the Party of National Unity and to Mr Kenyatta, with the crux of it being that Mr Kenyatta hired the goons who killed and maimed in Naivasha and Nakuru.
It was Mr Kenyatta’s position that his party is Kanu, which supported the presidential bid of President Kibaki, but neither the party nor he has any links with Mungiki. Second, he said, Kanu, whose chairman he is, and he, have never schemed to visit violence on any Kenyan.
Indeed, the Kenyatta strategy was to come across as a statesman and a patriot who puts country and the unity of the Kenyan nation above his individual political interests and pursuits.
The point was made that Mr Kenyatta was a man who would sacrifice his political pursuits at the altar of peace and unity of Kenya.
It was also his strategy to portray his party not only as the party of Kenya’s independence, but also one that has always stood for a unitary government from the days of the independence struggle and through the decades-long search for a new constitutional dispensation.
The decision by Mr Kenyatta to be his own witness and which many feared would be a risky affair, may also have been aimed at making the point that Mr Kenyatta is a leader who leads from the front and armed with the courage of his convictions.
Mr Ocampo helped make Mr Kenyatta look good as he boldly, deliberately and determinedly took the stand as his own witness on Thursday and put up a solid performance.
A dig at Ocampo
Mr Ocampo stammered and stuttered as he struggled with his English and delivery in stark and sharp contrast to a composed and clear Mr Kenyatta.
Indeed, Mr Kenyatta had a dig at Mr Ocampo, telling the bench the prosecutor did not understand Kenya’s security system.
Whether the ICC confirms or rejects the case against Mr Kenyatta, his legal team, the man himself, co-suspect Mr Francis Muthaura and his supporters will be satisfied with his courtroom performance on Thursday.
It is why his cousin and Health minister Beth Mugo told reporters she was leaving for Nairobi confident that Mr Kenyatta had shown the world that he is a peace-maker.
In other words, Mr Kenyatta had used Mr Ocampo’s global stage to his local and political advantage.
Kwendo Opanga is a media consultant opanga@diplomateastafrica.com
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