Brother Steve’s wonderful work is a monument to Kenya’s diplomacy

 

By KWAMCHETSI MAKOKHAPosted Friday, January 28 2011 at 18:31

Were Kenya’s diplomats to be people of Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka’s calibre, the country would certainly be in the running to produce the next secretary-general of the United Nations.

His honest diplomacy around Africa in the past few weeks has clarified the country’s situation to its friends while securing the national interest.
Until Mr Musyoka began his shuttle diplomacy, many people around the world had no idea that the peace and security situation in Kenya was so dire.

In the event of a threat to the peace — such as is apparent in Kenya — the UN Security Council can ask the International Criminal Court to postpone the investigation and prosecution of crimes against humanity for a year.

Such has been the Vice-President’s request to African leaders: to support Kenya’s plea to the Security Council that being unstable, the continued investigation or prosecution of six suspected masterminds of the 2008 post-election violence would provoke a full-scale war.

Although African nations unsuccessfully made a similar request in the case of Sudan because of the war in Darfur, they need not be shy this time around because Kenya’s case is much more serious.

The six suspects’ absence from Kenya, as the VP knows, could result in civil unrest, brought on by too much pining for their presence among their followers. As the Vice-President’s party has briefed various African leaders, just two of the suspected masterminds of the post-election violence control 50 per cent of the Kenyan population. Going by the referendum vote results alone, that figure has probably gone up.

Their presence on Kenyan soil, especially ahead of a major election event, has a calming effect on everyone and guarantees peace and security.

Once the UN Security Council asks the ICC to defer the cases for a year, the VP has found an exciting way in which Kenya could use the time to investigate and prosecute those in question in a manner that discourages ICC interest. If the suspects are tried in Kenya, regardless of the outcome, they cannot be prosecuted again at the ICC, thus averting war. All her neighbours would thus sigh in relief.

Kenya is anxious to take over these cases now, unlike the situation in the past four years, because it now has a new Constitution. Unlike some people who are too well-known, the VP was unequivocal in supporting this Constitution in its entirety, together with its speedy implementation. He once even incited Kenyans to lose patience with the slow speed at which it was being implemented and to loudly protest.

With a new Constitution in place, the positions of Chief Justice and Deputy Chief Justice as well as Director of Public Prosecutions could be filled in one day — with members of the UN Security Council free to suggest candidates. Commonwealth judges and prosecutors would be particularly welcome to confirm Kenya’s commitment to its obligations to the international community.

The 1,133 homicides, of which 19 have been taken to court and one conviction secured, would be a cakewalk for the new team. Previous threats against potential witnesses and victims, some of whom were killed under the old Constitution, would no longer be an issue of concern.

The Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission, which was collapsed by the bad old Constitution, would slough off its old historical injustice cases and begin to help deliver justice for the 2008 post-election crimes.

There is no point in rushing into a judicial process only for it to fail, hence Kenya’s plea to its brother African nations. After all, it is a mere four years since the crimes in question were committed. Buying another year for Kenya would ensure that the cases, like wine, mature with age.

By the time they go to court, the suspects will have had time to reflect on their alleged crimes, prepared appropriate defences and put their affairs in order so that the trials do not interrupt their lives. In the event of conviction, they could serve time when their supporters have long aged or died and no longer pose a threat to the peace.

The world needs to trust Kenya’s leadership on this because Kenya keeps its promises. It kept its promise to the ICC chief prosecutor, Mr Luis Moreno-Ocampo, to set up a judicial process to investigate and prosecute the post-election violence by September 30, 2009.

It has also kept its promise to cooperate in the ICC’s subsequent investigations by recording statements from security and administration officials who were on duty at the time of the crisis. It has kept its promise to protect potential witnesses and victims of the post-election violence.

Why would it not keep its promise to the UN Security Council and the African Union?

kwamchetsi@formandcontent.com