{UAH} How politics shaped perception of the Kenya cases at The Hague - Politics - nation.co.ke

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How politics shaped perception of the Kenya cases at The Hague - Politics

By EMEKA-MAYAKA GEKARA
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The closure of four camps for the internally displaced families yesterday perhaps captures how politics has dramatically altered the dynamics of the crimes against humanity cases involving President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto.

Mr Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the former prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, had designed two cases which rivalled each other.

The Prosecution accuses Mr Ruto of sponsoring the 2007/8 violence in the Rift Valley, which led to the uprooting of several families who have been living in the camps which the two went to close yesterday.

On the other hand, President Kenyatta is alleged to have financed retaliatory attacks against communities perceived to have supported ODM, then Mr Ruto's party.

According to the Ocampo narrative, Mr Ruto's group were the aggressors while Mr Kenyatta's acted in revenge.

Because of the 2008 post-election events in Rift Valley, Mr Ruto was an unpopular man in Kenyattta's central Kenya backyard.

But events of the 2007/8 violence made such an arrangement possible owing to hostility between the two leaders' communities.

Back then, pictures of former First Lady Ngina Kenyatta praying for her son together with Mr Ruto would have been unthinkable.

Those whose relatives had been killed in the violence were hostile to Mr Ruto in whose constituency the Kiambaa church massacre occurred.

For instance when a rumour circulated in during the formation of the Grand Coalition Cabinet in 2008 that Mr Ruto would be appointed Internal Security Minister, many in Mt Kenya region were unsettled.

Bearing in mind the hostility between the Kikuyu and Kalenjin at the time, the residents could not contemplate the then Eldoret North MP as the minister in charge of police.

As victims of the Rift Valley violence, it is widely expected that individuals from Kenyatta's community form the bulk of witnesses to testify against Mr Ruto and Radio journalist Joshua Sang.

But the political alliance between Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto, which saw their communities voting for the same ticket in the last General Election raises the question of whether the witnesses will still take the stand. The Jubilee Alliance is largely made up of the Kikuyu and Kalenjin communities.

In fact when withdrawing from the case two weeks ago, one of the witnesses said he was unwilling to testify because the level of hostility between the two communities had reduced.

"I have looked at the tranquility currently prevailing in Kenya and I don't want to contribute to a situation which may disturb the peace that Kenyans are currently enjoying. I, therefore, swear this affidavit to confirm that I have withdrawn my testimony in its entirety and will not participate in the process any further," he said in a sworn affidavit dated August 8.

Then there is the question of the status of the accused.

"One would have to summon greater conviction to testify against the head of state and his deputy," says lawyer Elijah Abuki.

The cases that Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto face are so grave that they would have caused them to be ostracised, making it impossible to hold public office.

Instead, the ICC cases have transformed the two into heroes.

For three years, they built their political campaigns around The Hague predicament and tactfully tied their future and that of their supporters on the progress of the upcoming ICC trials. Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga was projected as the man behind their woes.

The cases became a major campaign issue in the March election to the disadvantage of Mr Odinga.

Their supporters were persuaded that Mr Odinga would deliver them to The Hague first thing if elected President.

The leaders' cases in The Hague also follow a series of ironical twists. It is notable that in 2009 they rallied their forces to vote against the establishment of a local tribunal to try those suspected of the election violence.

For instance, on February 22, 2009, Mr Ruto made a strong pitch for the intervention of the ICC in Kenya.

In an interview with this paper, Mr Ruto, then Agriculture minister, declared that he wanted the envelope containing names of the suspects handed over to The Hague-based court "without further delay".

He said a two-month period given by former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan to set up a local tribunal to deal with the cases was unnecessary.

"Annan should hand over the envelope that contains names of suspects to the International Criminal Court at The Hague so that proper investigations can start," Mr Ruto said.

More than a year later, the ICC prosecutor in December 2010 named him alongside Mr Kenyatta and four others (three of whom have since been cleared) are the ones responsible for the violence.

Speaking in a Saturday Nation interview yesterday, Kisumu Senator Anyang Nyong'o blamed the two for The Hague trials.

"We in ODM wanted a local tribunal. Cabinet approved the Bill but it was defeated in Parliament by those who are now saying ICC should get off their backs," he said.

"You remember the song 'don't be vague let us go to The Hague.' The process of demonising the ICC started when the names were made public with some people saying that somebody was behind the case. Then they embarked on shuttle diplomacy to campaign for a deferral. ODM wanted a referral."

How politics shaped perception of the Kenya cases at The Hague - Politics - nation.co.ke
http://www.nation.co.ke/news/politics/How+politics+shaped+perception+of+the+Kenya+cases+at+The+Hague+/-/1064/1983566/-/12yh5bn/-/index.html