Courts could lock Uhuru, Ruto out

Courts could lock Uhuru, Ruto out

Related News

·         Mudavadi best bet for State House tenancy, offers break with the past

·         Early campaigns are an expensive distraction from nation building

·         Kosgey wants ODM organ to pick Raila running mate

·         Allies nervous as Ford parties moot reunion

SHARE THIS STORY

Updated 5 hrs 9 mins ago

By Ngumbao Kithi

The big decision on whether Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto will run for president lies with local courts, the head of the Judiciary says.

Chief Justice Willy Mutunga has said only the Kenyan courts can decide whether the international crimes suspects can run for an elective office. The Deputy Prime Minister and the Eldoret North MP await trial at The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) over post-election violence crimes.

Despite the grave charges facing them including mass rape, murder, and deportation the two suspects have launched bids for president, with a tirade against Prime Minister Raila Odinga questioning his reform credentials.

Uhuru and Ruto appear to have been energised by a decision by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to push their trials to April, which will be after the first round of presidential election.

Mutunga, who closed a three-day workshop on transformation of the Judiciary in Mombasa, said a suit filed in local courts to test Uhuru and Ruto’s integrity and capacity to participate in the presidential polls will be concluded at the end of this month.

“The courts in Kenya will decide if these people can stand for president,” he said in Mombasa, a statement set to spur panic in the camps of the two politicians.

Mutunga recalled that the High Court is hearing the matter brought to by applicants who want it to determine the two leaders’ integrity and capacity to seek public office.

Courts to decide

“Already some Kenyans have taken Uhuru [Kenyatta] and [William] Ruto to court to determine whether they can stand and the court will decide.” In the past the CJ has unnerved many politicians for asserting that courts will enforce Chapter Six on leadership and integrity for all who seek appointment and election to public offices.

Mutunga’s statement comes days after Justice minister Eugene Wamalwa and most leaders, who have stated ICC decision now allows the two suspects to stand because no court has found them guilty.

Wamalwa insists that Uhuru and Ruto are free to run now that their ICC cases are set to kick off after the General Election.

Wamalwa said the trial dates of April 11 and 12 would allow the duo to exercise their democratic rights.

“This brings closure to the acrimonious debate whether the ICC process would lock out some presidential aspirants. Because the court has now ruled they are free to contest and thereafter proceed with the cases,” Wamalwa explained.

Last Thursday, Independent Boundaries and Electoral Commission Chairman Ahmed Issaak claimed it is the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission that will determine Uhuru and Ruto’s fate on this matter. Mutunga has previously stated that the Judiciary will ensure leaders who fail to meet the threshold of integrity as set out in the Constitution are considered for public offices.

Mutunga, who is also the president of the Supreme Court and the one who will swear-in the fourth president, warned courts would defend the Constitution.

Saying he would forever fight “in the trenches of reform”, Mutunga dismissed claims by a section of lawyers, and some MPs that Chapter Six of the Constitution on leadership and integrity stands suspended until a Bill is passed to implement it.

Addressing members of the Independent Police Oversight Authority last month, Mutunga told them not to expect a smooth transition.

“You will meet numerous opposing forces, intimidation, and obstacles.  But I urge you to take up the challenge. Do not be intimidated; discharge your duties without fear as the country is counting on you.”

The CJ’s words followed his revelation that some people threatened him for refusing to yield to political interests. The CJ promised to ensure that the courts uphold Chapter Six of the Constitution to weed out individuals who do not meet integrity and leadership standards.

The CJ was emphatic that the courts must be seen to uphold the spirit of the Constitution when interpreting Chapter Six.

Spirit of Constitution

Mutunga said the Constitution must be upheld to ensure that people seeking to lead are held accountable, and those who fail integrity and leadership thresholds are not appointed or elected to public offices.

But Wamalwa, who was speaking at a meeting with the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights in his offices last week, said ICC is a judicial process that should be delinked from politics.

“ICC cases are a judicial process that should not be politicized. We should let the law take its course for justice to be done for both the victims and the accused.”

He further pledged that the Kenyan Government will fully co-operate with the ICC in ensuring victims and the accused persons get justice.