International Commission of Jurists-Kenya executive director George Kegoro. Photo/FILE
By LILLIAN ONYANGO laonyango@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Sunday, April 15 2012 at 22:31
Posted Sunday, April 15 2012 at 22:31
IN SUMMARY
- Legal experts say that ethnicity will derail free, fair and peaceful elections
Lawyers on Sunday condemned the formation of tribal groupings, saying they could incite communities against each other.
The International Commission of Jurists-Kenya said groupings such as Gema and Kamatusa could “incite violence as has been experienced in the past”.
Recently, in separate meetings, the Gikuyu, Embu, Meru Association (Gema) and the Kalenjin, Maasai, Turkana and Samburu Association (Kamatusa) resolved to collect five million signatures to lobby for deferral of the Kenyan cases at the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Four Kenyans facing trial at the ICC for crimes against humanity include Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, Eldoret North MP William Ruto, former head of Civil Service Francis Muthaura and radio presenter Joshua arap Sang’.
“Neither delaying the ICC trial, nor using ethnically-loaded language will foster free, fair, open and peaceful elections,” ICJ-Kenya executive director George Kegoro said in a statement sent to newsrooms.
Earlier in the month, Law Society of Kenya (LSK) chairman Eric Mutua urged the Attorney-General and the Director of Public Prosecutions to investigate Energy minister Kiraitu Murungi and Mr Ruto, with respect to their associations with Gema and Kamatusa, respectively.
Mr Kegoro supported LSK’s position, saying the groups had put considerable effort in “attempting to gather support to delay the ongoing trials at the ICC and building support for political candidates by using ethnically-loaded language”.
“Collecting signatures and petitioning the court to defer the ICC cases are a waste of time and effort. The ICC can only have its processes deferred or delayed through the UN Security Council,” he stated.
He explained that The Hague-based court is independent, impartial and non-partisan.
“It serves the interests of justice, not politics, and is separate from the elec
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