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| The International Criminal Court building. [PHOTO: FILE/STANDARD] |
By Oscar Obonyo and Vincent Bartoo
President Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto will miss Kenya’s historic Jubilee celebrations in December unless their Hague court calendar is amended.
Ruto is set to fly out to The Hague tomorrow ahead of his appearance before judges on Monday to answer charges of crimes against humanity. Kenyatta is scheduled to appear on November 11.
The trial schedule released by the International Criminal Court, and which has left senior government officials in utter shock, has the President and his Deputy confined in the Netherlands-based court between November 11 and December 13 this year. This would lock them out of the Jubilee celebrations to mark 50 years of independence.
In spite of the alarming potential of the ICC raining on their party, both Kenyatta and Ruto yesterday expressed their readiness to face court and to defend themselves vigorously.
Speaking in a series of public meetings attended by Ruto yesterday, Kenyatta reiterated that his case at the ICC was a personal challenge that would not stop his government from functioning.
President’s assurance
“Kenyans should not be worried about what will happen. The government will continue doing things that we are doing today,” said the president while closing the Naka IDP in Eldoret.
In apparent reference to their absence in coming days, the president asked Kenyans not to be distracted, but instead continue with their lives. “Continue working, doing your business and tending to your farms. Do not be distracted or worried, we will go there defend ourselves and our country and shame the devil,” he said.
“A lot has been said to intimidate you; do not be intimidated. They should look for another country to intimidate,” he said without elaborating. But the ICC calendar in respect of the Kenyan cases has sparked anxiety and panic both in government and among backers of Kenyatta and Ruto backers, with top lawyers associated with the two working overtime to change the hearing dates.
“The day we shall celebrate Jamhuri Day with Kenyatta at The Hague is the day Kenya will have lost its sovereignty,” warned Prof Peter Kagwanja, president of the African Policy Institute.
According to the International Criminal Court calendar, the cases of crimes against humanity facing the two leaders will go on until Friday, December 13 — a day after the Jubilee celebrations — before the court adjourns for Christmas.
It would indeed be a big blow for Kenyatta and Ruto who named their pre-election coalition after the 50-year anniversary.
The Jubilee party is billed to be the most elaborate and expensive national celebration for Kenya since independence.
An inter-ministerial committee organising the celebrations is expected to invite hundreds of world leaders, US President Barack Obama, British Premier David Cameron and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.
All that remains in doubt unless the ICC schedule is changed.
Kenyatta has requested the court to postpose the start of his trial to January to allow his legal time ample time to investigate phone data. However, the prosecution has opposed the application.
The latest ICC development begs a host of questions. Will Kenyans proceed with Jubilee celebrations without Kenyatta and Ruto? Will National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi seize the opportunity, as per constitutional dictates, to lead the nation in the celebrations? Alternatively, will the President and his Deputy decline to honour the proceedings at The Hague and spearhead the celebrations?
Prof Kagwanja claims the ICC is deliberately pushing Kenyatta and Ruto to the limit with a view to getting them to refuse to comply with the summons.
Arrest warrants
The whole idea, argues Prof Kagwanja, is to enable The Hague to issue arrest warrants and subsequently criminalise the two leaders as they have Sudan leader Omar el-Bashir.
Former Cabinet minister Prof Amukowa Anangwe concurs: “In my honest opinion the two will at some point defy the ICC. The motion initiated by the National Assembly to withdraw the country from the Rome Statute is an early indicator.”
Anangwe, who teaches political science at University of Dodoma, Tanzania, observes that there is no way a president can opt to stay away from the comfort on his country to subscribe to a “messy process, where he is not even sure whether he will come back or not”.
And terming it a big political challenge that the country needs to seriously address, history and international relations expert, Prof Macharia Munene, questions why ICC should set hearing dates that are bound to raise eyebrows.
“ICC has been shifting goal posts and it appears every move they take is dictated by foreign powers. This even makes more of a political than judicial process,” declares Munene, who teaches at the United States International University (USIU) in Nairobi.
Different views
However, human rights lawyer Harun Ndubi holds a different view: “Before the March general elections there was some warning (from US deputy secretary in charge of African affairs, Johnnie Carson) to the effect that “choices have consequences”. So why did Kenyans take the risk?”
Nonetheless, Nairobi lawyer Prof Kibe Mungai maintains the absence of the president and his deputy at the same time could cause “practical difficulties” in the affairs of the country. “In legal terms, the Constitution does not envisage a situation where the president and the deputy are both outside the country,” he said suggesting the need of making relevant amendments.
Even as the legal teams of Kenyatta and Ruto push for changes in the trial dates, the Jubilee party is as good as already marred.
And even if the ICC alters the dates by concluding a day or so earlier, to enable the duo to be home on Jamhuri Day, they will only manage to play catch up. According to initial plans of the inter-ministerial committee, the celebrations are destined to stretch for two weeks at the start of December climaxing on Jamhuri Day.
A series of events including parades and lectures are lined up during the two-week long period. The guest list includes heads of state expected in the country earlier than the main festival day.
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