President Mwai Kibaki and South Sudan president Salva Kiir lay the foundation stone when they arrived at the site where the Lamu Port will be situated at Magogoni to commission the multi-billion dollar Lamu Port South Sudan Ethiopia Transport Corridor project in Lamu County. Photo/FILE
By OLIVER MATHENGE omathenge@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Saturday, March 24 2012 at 22:30
Posted Saturday, March 24 2012 at 22:30
IN SUMMARY
- Elections next year give president time to execute final move to save ICC suspects from The Hague jaws
With two of his closest allies facing crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court (ICC), President Kibaki could not have asked for a better election date than the March 4, 2013 announced by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission.
The President could use the one year that he has in office to try and save Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and former head of civil service Francis Muthaura from the ICC jaws.
There are already signs that the President and his advisers are set to launch this new offensive as a way of safeguarding his legacy.
A team of top lawyers formed after the ICC committed the two Kibaki allies and two others to trial presented its findings to Attorney-General Githu Muigai who then briefed the President on Thursday.
Key among its recommendations is that the government urgently appoints a special prosecutor to try post-election violence suspects including Mr Kenyatta, Mr Muthaura, Eldoret North MP William Ruto and radio presenter Joshua Sang.
Such a move would give Kenya an opportunity to ask that the cases be referred back home as long as the four suspects face the same charges locally as are before The Hague court.
President Kibaki could also use his “extended time” in office to deal with the unending headache of the IDPs who are still in camps four years after the post-election violence which drove them out of their homes.
The team of lawyers advised the government to immediately set aside money for the IDPs compensation including their resettlement.
Political analyst and lecturer Kipchumba Murkomen argues that the President should have acted more promptly on the IDPs issue instead of waiting until the post-election violence issue had gotten to the stage it is now.
“If there is something we will remember about President Kibaki for the five years is the fact that he decided to just stay in State House instead of walking around the country. If there is something we miss about former President Moi, it is that he could go to every place and talk about peace, love and unity,” Mr Murkomen says.
The ICC took up the Kenyan cases due to the government’s failure to set up a genuine and credible mechanism to try the suspects at home. There is also the argument that the government filed a grossly incompetent case challenging the ICC hearings.
Though the prosecutor said he had no evidence against the Head of State, the events after the election and subsequent prosecution of Kenyans at the ICC remain a blot on his legacy and a shame to the nation as the cases head to trial.
It is often pointed out that the President would be remembered as the commander-in-chief under whose watch Kenyan citizens were prosecuted at the ICC.
As he was being sworn in as President on December 30, 2002 after a landslide election victory, he told Kenyans: “You have asked me to lead this nation out of the present wilderness and malaise onto the Promised Land. And I shall.”
March 25 next year, if elections are held on March 4, a winner is declared and no one moves to court challenging the election, President Kibaki will be a one-week-old former Head of State. This being his last year in office, the President is set to leave behind a long list of unfinished projects started since 2003.
The March 4, 2013 date thus gives President Kibaki additional time to handle his unfinished agenda as he is likely to be in office up to June 2013, if the election lacks a clear winner in the first round.
Though not official, the President’s backing of a March 2013 election could be seen as his avenue of ensuring that key projects are pushed, further securing him a more attractive legacy.
Top on the president’s agenda are Vision 2030 flagship projects such as the Thika Super Highway, Konza Technocity, the Lamu port and the Lamu Southern Sudan-Ethiopia Transport Corridor.
He will also be evaluating the impact of free primary and secondary education programmes as well as the attempted revival of various industries including sugar and coffee.
The President would also definitely want to see Kenyan military successfully end their mission against the Al-Shabaab in Somalia.
But, although the economic projects are his favourite, there is little doubt that getting a referral of the ICC cases is key as he wraps up his presidency.
President Kibaki and ODM leader Raila Odinga were the key contestants in the 2007 presidential election whose outcome resulted in violence that claimed the lives of 1,113 Kenyans.
The violence was, in part, a consequence of the failure of President Kibaki and his first government to exert political control over the country or to maintain sufficient legitimacy that would have made a civilised contest with him as a candidate possible, the Commission of Inquiry on Post Election Violence observed.
It also blames the President for the way he handled the search for a new Constitution, the 2005 referendum and its aftermath.Notably, the report, commonly referred to as the Waki Report, blamed President Kibaki for failure to take action ahead of the elections that could have bridged the escalating ethnic and political divide that fuelled the violence.
Even worse, says the report, was the decision by the President to dissolve the entire Cabinet after losing the referendum and excluding Mr Odinga and his allies from the government a month later, creating further political polarisation.
Another issue that is most likely to cloud President Kibaki’s legacy as he leaves office is that he dedicated minimal energy on the agricultural sector and fighting corruption. As he exits from government, President Kibaki is likely to be haunted by his own words made during the 2002 swearing in.
“Corruption will now cease to be a way of life in Kenya and I call upon all those members of my government and public officers accustomed to corrupt practice to know and clearly understand that there will be no sacred cows under my government,” a newly elected President Kibaki said.
During his tenure, President Kibaki has not only been accused of failing to resolve past scandals, but has also seen new ones arise. There has been the multi-billion-shilling Anglo Leasing scandal and the controversial Grand Regency sale.
However, his supporters say Kibaki’s drive of Kenya Vision 2030 must be lauded, with Mukurwe-ini MP Kabando wa Kabando calling it a sign of “remarkable foresight”.
Vision 2030 CEO Mugo Kibati remains optimistic that the vision will become a reality.
But the President’s critics are not yet ready to accept that he has done his best.
Former MP Koigi wa Wamwere argues that while President Kibaki has helped the economy recover, his tenure has also seen the gap between the rich and the poor increase.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment