ICC prosecutor names suspects of Kenya’s polls havoc
By Muhammad Osman
December 15, 2010 (Nairobi) – The International Criminal Court’s (ICC) Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo has disclosed the names of six high-profile Kenyans he accuses of inciting the 2007-08 post-elections violence, including four cabinet ministers, a retired police chief and a radio producer.
As many as 1,200 people were killed and 500,000 were displaced in the turmoil that erupted in Kenya when the incumbent Mwai Kibaki who leads the Party of National Unity (PNU) was declared winner of the 2007’s elections against his rival Raila Odinga of the opposition Orange Democratic Party (ODM).
The crisis ended in 2008 when the two rivals signed a power sharing agreement and formed a coalition government led by Kibaki as a president and Odinga as Prime Minister.
The case tendered against the six suspects, who are split evenly between the PNU and the ODM, will be assessed by a panel of three judges who will decide in the months to come whether or not to serve the six with subpoenas.
Meanwhile, Kenyan police have already beefed up security in the areas that were most-affected by the post-elections violence amid fears that the politicians named could mobilize supporters to cause unrest.
“Adequate security arrangements in all areas of the country to forestall any eventuality” Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere said.
Perhaps the most influential figure in Ocampo’s list is the PNU’s bigwig and Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta whose plans to vie for the presidency in 2012 elections could now be in jeopardy.
Kenyatta, who is affiliated to the PNU, has been accused of mobilizing a gang of outlaws known as Mungiki to attack ODM supporters in the Rift Valley province in central Kenya.
The 49-year-old politician has proclaimed innocence and said he was ready to face the accusations leveled against him.
“My record is clear and it remains very clear that I have never committed any crime,” he told a press conference in Nairobi soon after his name was announced.”I am ready to respond to any allegations made against me,” he added later.
William Ruto, the former deputy leader of the ODM and a declared candidate for the 2012 elections, also stands out as a key figure in Ocampo’s list.
The 44 year old influential politician stands accused of being one of the principle planners and organizers of crimes against PNU supporters. Ruto has suggested that the ICC process is politically motivated but said he would appear to clear his name.
The announcement, which sent ripples through the entire political establishment in Kenya, has prompted President Kibaki to release a statement indicating no intention to take actions against the individuals named.
“Calls for action to be taken against them are…prejudicial, preemptive and against the rules of natural justice,” the president’s statement reads.
Kibaki further reiterated his government’s commitment to establish a local tribunal to handle the case, a move interpreted by most observers as yet another attempt to circumvent the ICC’s jurisdictions.
Prime Minister Odinga is yet to react to the prosecutor’s announcement.
Meanwhile in Washington, US President Barack Obama whose father was Kenyan urged the government there to cooperate fully with the ICC.
(ST)