Like my hero the late great Pan-African revolutionary Bantu Steve Biko wrote before he was assassinated by the Apartheid regime – I Write What I like. But I write responsibly, of course. The Constitution of Kenya entrenches and protects my right to free expression and speech. And so do various international instruments. On April 7 and 8, 2011, I intend to exercise two other fundamental rights and freedoms the Constitution guarantees me: the right of association and travel.I plan to accompany two of Luis Moreno-Ocampo’s celebrated Kenyan indictees - Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto - to The Hague. I am not planning to attend as a lawyer, though, as a well-trained and experienced barrister and solicitor, I am more than qualified to hold brief for the two. I haven’t been retained and instructed; and I don’t want to be accused of soliciting.
Nor will I be there as a spy. There isn’t anything to spy on since the ICC process is transparent and the two will appear in open court. Moreover, full details of the charges the two are facing have been published locally and abroad. The user-friendly ICC website where the charges and summonses have been posted is accessible to everyone in the world. That site contains everything anybody would like to know about the cases, minus the identities of witnesses. Moreover, on April 7 and 8, no witnesses will be called. No actual court proceeding will ensue. So, unless Uhuru and Ruto intend to detour to herbalist Ambilikile Mwasapila’s miracle “clinic” in Loliondo, Tanzania, there will be nothing to spy on.
I actually could have represented the two “presidential front-runners,” pro bono, if they were facing similar charges the Kapenguria Six faced. In Toronto, Canada, I specialized in defending those brutalized and mistreated by the Police. In my fifteen years of active litigation, I did more than my fair share of malicious prosecutions, illegal arrests and unlawful detentions. I got lots of innocent victims of police abuse of power from the jaws of racist criminal justice system. I know a thing or two about being framed. After all, I attended two blue-laced universities in Canada: the venerable University of Toronto and the inimitable Osgoode Hall Law School of York University.
I have absolutely nothing against the private college Uhuru attended in the U.S.A. That a person with no intellectual, commercial or artistic flair – and who has never been gainfully employed through merit - would be considered a “presidential front-runner” by an incumbent president whose legitimacy is questionable, is a phenomenon only a Kenya can explain to the world. In North America and Europe, they swirl around military heroes, tested performers, industry titans and custodians of integrity. Oratorical flair comes in to boost the pith of one’s character; not as a convenient substitute to substance.
Wealth is a poisoned chalice in North American politics if its sources are murky. Not in Kenya. In Kenya, it is how much wealth one has – regardless of its sources and no matter the ethical pedigree of its wielder – that determines one’s “status” in life. Even before the “Sonko” phenomenon, those occupying exalted positions in life neither earned nor merited them.
The problem is that unlike my heroes, Steve Biko, Nelson Mandela, Chris Hani, Joe Slove, Govan Mbeki and Walter Sisulu who suffered treacherously but courageously waging war against the Apartheid regime in South Africa; Uhuru and Ruto are facing charges at The Hague for crimes against humanity because they allegedly slaughtered innocent Kenyan civilians. Before that, they excelled in YK’92! Uhuru and Ruto are what one might call “historical eyesores”.
Uhuru and Ruto are not facing sedition or treason charges. Had Mungiki been a liberation movement – like the Mau Mau and the Umkonto we Ziswe - Uhuru could have earned my pro bono services. But the ICC has accused Uhuru, not of fighting to free the poor and downtrodden Kenyans from poverty, police brutality and abuse; he is facing charges for allegedly using the Mungiki to butcher innocent Luos, Luhyas and Kalenjins in Naivasha and Nakuru for parochial political interests during the post-election violence. Ruto, on the other hand, is accused of burning women and children alive in a church in Eldoret.
Of course, Uhuru and Ruto have asserted their innocence in public rallies and funerals. And as a lawyer, I accord them the benefits of doubt that all accused persons are entitled to. The problem, however, is that I watched, like many others, the sickening bloodbath and tragic barbarism that saw thousands murdered, maimed, raped and displaced in 2007/8. The Pre-Trial Chamber II of the ICC, which is the only competent and credible judicial authority that has independently and impartially assessed Moreno-Ocampo’s evidence, unanimously agree - even the dissenting judge agreed - that Uhuru Kenyatta, William Ruto, Henry Kosgey, Husein Ali and Joshua Sang, are most responsible for those crimes and should therefore stand trial.
Because of the catalogue of crimes against humanity that the ICC has assembled against the Ocampo Six, I intend to travel to The Hague as a spectator to the mourning sessions that the two “celebrated” indictees plan to unveil at The Hague on April. According to various media reports, Uhuru and Ruto are planning to perform the most breathtaking political dirges that have never been seen before. Using a cast of forty MPs - the “Honourable Mourning Troupe” – Uhuru and Ruto will conduct rehearsals in Parliament Buildings, Nairobi; the JKIA and the Amsterdam Schiphol Airport; and hold the final performance at The Hague on both April 7 and 8.
The “Mother of all Funerals” will be staged at The Hague. The chief drummers and trumpeters will be from the infamous YK’92 Troupe. The PNU/KKK and Ocampo Groupies have hired mugithi, nyatiti and sukuti dancers who will stage dazzling traditional dirges that have never been seen before. The two “presidential front-runners” are conducting their political funerals ahead of time. I don’t want to miss the show. That’s why I am traveling to The Hague.
Political burial arrangements will be announced later, possibly after the confirmation hearings in November!
Miguna is the PM’s advisor on Coalition Affairs. The views expressed here are his own.
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