Is Kibaki under a secret ICC probe?

By VITALIS KIMUTAI and ALEX NDEGWA

If a leaked document, allegedly from the UK administration, is to be believed, President Kibaki is under a secret probe by the International Criminal Court, and could be indicted on retirement.

The documents, which caused outrage in Parliament, also casts a picture of Britain advising International Criminal Court that arrest warrants against Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Eldoret North MP William Ruto, who have already been committed to full trial, would diminish their chances "of... ascending to State House".

The letter is allegedly copied to someone called Kanbar Hossein Bor at The Hague and 17 British government officers in London, Nairobi, Washington, New York, Sudan, DfID offices, Brussels and Somalia.

The dossier, allegedly circulated by the British Foreign Office, and purportedly written by Chloe Hamborg, head of Horn of Africa Strategy Team, hints that a decision could have been reached that the arrests warrants for Uhuru and Ruto, who are in the presidential race, be released in the next two months.

President Mwai Kibaki [PHOTO: FILE/STANDARD]

Last evening, the British High Commission Press officer in Kenya, Mr John Bradshaw described the allegations in the report dated January 27 and February 6, as preposterous.

An annexure in the report is attributed to UK former envoy to Kenya, Peter Tibber.

"Following the confirmation of charges by the ICC of four Kenyan suspects alleged to have masterminded Kenya’s 2007/2008 violence, we expect the ICC to issue arrest warrants in the spring," says the report.

In what could lead to frosty international relations, the UK Government also appears to favour Prime Minister Raila Odinga succeeding President Kibaki at State House.

"The arrest warrant would assist the ongoing investigation of President Kibaki. It would diminish the chances of Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto ascending to State House. It would increase the chances of Kibaki being indicted as a former Head of State," reads the document in part.

Heated debate

A further hint that UK is privy to a guarded investigation of the President, if the dossier, which the British High Commission in Kenya declined to comment on "because as a policy we do not comment on leaked documents," came in another line: "Our advice is that Ministers (UK) do not push for a communication from ICC on the ongoing investigation of President Kibaki."

Yatta MP Charles Kilonzo touched off the heated debate in the House when he tabled the leaked document.

Disputing Foreign Affairs minister Moses Wetangula’s assertion that UK Foreign Secretary William Hague recent visit was to "cement relationship" between the two nations, Kilonzo claimed it was a "conspiracy by a friend to stab us in the back."

Kilonzo read out the opening statement in the letter: "Following January’s confirmation of charges by the ICC of four suspects alleged to have masterminded Kenya’s 2007/08 post election violence, we expect the ICC to issue arrest warrants in the spring." He added spring "supposedly refers to April."

Kilonzo then told the House of how that was to be done, quoting the document.

"All indications are that ‘Ocampo’s guests’ (Uhuru and Ruto) are likely to be a strong team in the elections and we should push for their detention during the mention of the cases on the pretext of threat to security.

"The arrest warrant would assist the ongoing investigation of President Kibaki. It would diminish the chances of Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto ascending to State House," he said. "It would increase the chances of Kibaki being indicted as a former Head of State," it concluded.

Wetangula questioned why the MP was being allowed to read excerpts of a document whose authenticity was yet to be determined.

Deputy Speaker Farah Maalim initially stated it had not been signed, but cleared it upon further perusal.

Kilonzo told the House the letter leaked because there were divisions in the UK government and House of Commons over the matter. The MP then read sections of the letter he claimed depict the real intentions of UK Foreign Secretary Mr William Hague in his recent visit to Kenya.

"With Kibaki himself now feeling vulnerable following the confirmation of both his closest adviser (Mr Francis Muthaura) and his most likely successor (Uhuru) as ICC guests, he is retreating further into his comfort zone of passive rule, letting a group of hardliners advise him on issues like the ICC,’’ ran the dossier.

Conspiracy

"Neither we, the US nor more moderate advisers have an easy way of accessing him. We are trying intermediaries. First, we need to send William Hague as the high ranking diplomat to President Kibaki," it said, unmasking the unstated reasons for Hague’s visit to Kenya.

Kilonzo added: "The visit was not in good faith. It was a conspiracy."

He posed: "Is the British Government a friendly state? Is it a process to bring down the Kenyan government?" posed the MP.

Turkana Central MP Ekwe Ethuro said the letter also suggested the ICC President would be roped in the conspiracy. Isiolo South MP Abdul Bahari asked Wetangula whether Kenya would consider severing diplomatic ties with the UK.

Deputy Speaker Farah Maalim, however, halted debate on the matter, citing the Standing Orders that require that a substantive motion be issued first before adversely discussing a friendly nation and its representatives.

Maalim added that such a motion required a three-day notice. Begot MP Charles Keter rallied members to reject a motion to extend sittings of the House to conclude House business.

The import of the rejection is that it aborted a scheduled motion to adjourn the House until April 10. The House resumes sittings next Tuesday and apparently members are determined to press on with the matter.

Ikolomani MP Bonny Khalwale read a section of the letter quoting UK officials lamenting Raila faces hurdles to the presidency.

"It is unlikely for him to make it without our support," Khalwale read from the document.

Khalwale added the letter cast aspersions against the Speaker, who is reported to have had a conversation with the UK official who interpreted the Speaker to have been suggesting a possible General Election as early as December.

"We consider this a big blow to Raila’s candidacy, since he is seen as having compromised the ICC cases. The memory will be fresh on the confirmation of charges. It is unlikely for him to make it without our support," Khalwale cited the letter.

Quiet investigations

Nominated MP Mohammed Affey said the fate of four Kenyans at the ICC was sealed and the "Foreign Affairs minister should institute a process of removing us from the ICC."

The British government also wants the investigations of President Kibaki to be conducted quietly without communication from the ICC.

"With the current division in the UK government and the European Union at large, the details are likely to reach President Kibaki and the political players in Kenya and AU," the statement says.

It further states that although Uhuru and Ruto had stepped aside from their positions, they remained influential politicians in Kenya.

The officers feared if the document leaks, Kenya and the AU’s resentment towards the ICC could increase and entrench division in the United Nations Security Council and the International Community.

Britain suggests that aid through DfID is increased to further her local interests.