Why Kibaki and Raila are top candidates for The Hague

By George Nyongesa

Bunge La Mwananchi

It is foregone that ICC prosecutor Mr. Ocampo shall on 3rd of November be a guest of the people of Kenya. The ICC prosecutor will be in the country to shop around for the fastest ship or airplane services that will shortly route the masterminds of the 2007 post election murders, rape and plunders to The Hague. Mr. Ocampo's excursion seems a basket of mixed reactions for 2012 presidential hopefuls as for all Kenyans.

For Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto, Ocampo's mission to Kenya is a living nightmare they wish was just a bad dream. The duo is already sleep deprived and experiencing serious weightloss. For Mr. Kalonzo Musyoka alias 'miracle-man' this a divine tsunami that will drown competitors especially if Raila Odinga is part of Waki envelop. Is it any wonder that Kalonzo is on new found mission to unite Kenyans? Ask yourself where he has been over the last 2 years. For Raila Odinga, Ocampo's visit heralds good tidings for fixing the Ruto problem in the Orange Democratic Movement. On the other hand, Daniel Moi and Mwai Kibaki are also suffering a migraine from a likelihood of second miscarriage of project Uhuru.

However, Ocampo's mission considered in the right way is not a mission to fix political antagonism. It is a journey of hope for Kenyans who have for so long suffered grand impunity from their political leaders. It is the rays of dawn after a midnight of disrespect of human rights and rule of law by the powerful.

In all these it should slip our mind that it would be great injustice and an even greater debacle of democracy if the two principals are not indicted to The Hague. The violence that ensued after the bungled 2007 elections was composed of wars fought by persons who were doing it for their preferred leader between the two principals. If anything, none of the two principals is on record as coming out in condemnation of the violence. In fact, one of them issued a call for mass action to protest the stolen election, while his antagonist employed state resources of terror to quell the resulting protests. Whichever side of the divide you may have viewed it from, what ensued was nevertheless murder, rape and wanton destruction of public and private property.

If The Hague process is truly about addressing the impunity that has dogged Kenya for a long time, it must remain clear that there are very few top politicians that can claim to be clean of the impunity. The two principals cannot be absolved while their soldiers bear the brunt of the prosecution. No matter that there were people who executed the orders on their behalf, those people acted on the instructions of or misguided ambitions of their principals. Therefore, if the generals are to be indicted, it is only befitting if not imperative that the principals should lead the pack as they did during PEV. Otherwise, the Hague process would be a cosmetic approach to addressing the roots of impunity. Why should ICC come for William Ruto and Uhuru Kenyatta and leave Kibaki and Raila? If Uhuru and Ruto are guilt of crimes against humanity for post election violence, Kibaki and Raila are more guilt on the same account. Why should Kibaki and Raila get a soft landing? Who doesn’t know the two were protecting the interests of their masters? Didn’t Waki tell us that some part of violence was planned in the house on the hill?

Further, there is every logical reason that the events that led the run up to, those that characterised the elections and thereafter, are ample basis to indict the two principals. One for having failed as the president of the country, and the other for having failed as a leader of his followers. This leadership vacuum necessarily triggered the senseless killings and plunder by leaving Kenyans confused and with undirected negative energies as the two principals faced off. We cannot pussyfoot around arresting and bundling the principals in MV Hague for fear that their arrest might re-ignite post election violence. We must have the two most powerful men taken to The Hague to reassure the ordinary Kenyans that after all the rich and powerful can also face justice. We must have these two arrested to warn anyone else nursing motives of deploying tools of violence in order to acquire power. Anything short of making Kibaki and Raila to account for their commissions and omissions; for their action and inactions shall be a mockery of justice.

Mwananchi to Poll Violence Planners: To The Hague! No Mercy!

From Bunge La Mwananchi

The special tribunal as recommended by Waki commission was to serve the crucial function of being a land mark on the journey to ending Kenya’s cycle of impunity, addressing the cycles of human rights violation and purging the abuse of power and misuse of public office in Kenya.

The Thursday, 29th January 2009, failure by parliament to pass the necessary law to set up the special tribunal within the Waki prescribed timeline is for Kenyans a blessing in disguise. By that act, we are now enroute to The Hague, which is a welcome relief for millions of ordinary Kenyans who have suffered impunity in all its forms in this country.

A country where:

-the Electoral Commission of Kenya officials instead of being tried for mismanaging the general election are fleecing public coffers for over Ksh. 500 million in severance pay.

-where political leaders engage in imperious activities such as corruption and continue to enjoy public office privilege.

-a legislator censored by the Parliament and heavily implicated for public office impropriety by a Commission of Inquiry set up by the Government, can be reinstated by the top Executive to enjoy Cabinet privileges.

All these happenings confirm that our top leadership is either clueless, not alive to what is happening or they are apologists for the impunities. For the many Kenyans who have suffered evils at the torture chambers, police brutality, extra judicial killings, human rights abuse and other grand corruption related pains in the form of misdirected public funds and resources, the Special Tribunal is a reassuring step towards breaking from such a bleak past.

Ordinary Kenyans do not have confidence in the local judicial system where justice is sold to the highest bidder and even one of our top leaders is on record proclaiming lack of confidence in the judicial system and its courts.

In a country with a history of horse trading for political expediency, majority of Kenyans are cautious to avoid letting off post election violence criminals through political-horse-trading. Therefore, with the Waki Commission report deadline having been exceeded, any further time granted to set up the tribunal would be at the mercy of the Panel of Eminent Persons. Kenyans exhort the Panel of Eminent Persons chaired by Dr. Koffi Annan not to extend such mercy or fear to punish this Government since they had plenty of time and could even afford to break early for Christmas.

We, Kenyans, support The Hague option because having an independent unbiased third party such as the ICC in charge will ensure that the process for justice is free from political interference. Further, this will save the nation from soap-opera-like intrigues and the twists and turns that is customary with Kenyan public business as political elite battle to stay in power. Even as the parliament rushed in an attempt to pass the law to set up the Special Tribunal, there are crucial questions that either alarmed or concerned Kenyans:

Considering everything in perspective, who is genuinely interested in the Special Tribunal? The answer is the ordinary Kenyans - the ones who have suffered too long from impunity, abuse of power, misuse of office and aborted justice or the slow motion of the wheels of justice.
Second, if the latest political events are anything to go by, where the two principals have become staunch advocates of and for each other and characters held in public contempt are elevated in public to senior cabinet positions, do you think the two former protagonists and their allies are interested in the tribunal?
How do we deal with already noticeable gaping loopholes that threaten the independence and effectiveness of the proposed Special Tribunal? For example, who will fund the tribunal? Is it the Government or the Consolidate Fund? How do we expect any implicated parliamentarian to sign the pay package for his executioners? Who will the Special Tribunal Chairman and the committee report to? If the previous escapades of commissions of inquiry are an example, Kenyans are likely to see the findings of this special tribunal in 2030 or so.
The other questions that we must ask ourselves, is who is the complainant? Ordinary Kenyans, without a doubt. Who is the defendant? Again, unquestionably, our political leaders. Considering that our lawmakers are themselves often eating the crumbs that fall off the Mastersʼ table, are the politicians likely to pass stringent laws to punish themselves or their benefactors? Shouldn’t we expect that our legislators are going pass laws even at night in order to free their partners in crime?

Further, the elephant question is will President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga face the Special Tribunal? Suppose they do and they are implicated such that they cannot exonerate themselves, what will happen? Will they still hold their public office? In proper hindsight, there is an undeniable role that the now President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga played in the post election violence, at least by their differences being the trigger that sparked it all off. For justice to be done and be seen to have been done it is important that the two principals must also face the Special Tribunal. In the event that they are implicated beyond reasonable doubt, can the President and Prime Minister be suspended? Further still, since the Cabinet is filled up with characters whose hands have been in the cookie jar, who will step in?
What are the possibilities that the two principals and their cohorts will use the national security intelligence to help water down evidence adduced against them?

We, Kenyans, are cognizant that the Waki commission has reinvigorated an apathetic citizenry by availing them the tangible opportunity to deal with the powerful persons behind the high loss of lives and widespread destruction of millions worth of property and sources of livelihood that devastated our lives in early 2008. We desire to start new chapter of Kenyan stability, a chapter to begin believing again in the vision and ideals of our nation and for this justice is crucial. It is only at The Hague where we will believe that justice shall be done and be seen to be done.
Further, we Kenyans, are alive to the truth that the coalition between the former protagonists can only be the product of their having hatched up some form of settlement over their differences, thereby forging a very strong, self-preserving and protective bond, and are concerned that the mad dash to adopt the law in parliament to set up the Special Tribunal is nothing more than a public relation exercise to sanitize post election violence planners before the public eye.

Lastly, in these difficult times, we the grass root leaders, call upon our Brothers and Sisters-Kenyans in the diaspora to join us in vigilance and militancy in demanding justice, as we do not expect any benevolence from our political class. The Special Tribunal is about ending impunity in all its forms and we must therefore drown out the assertion of sovereignty conveniently adopted by the cornered political class and invite the international community especially the AU and the UN to help us get justice. Yes, we Kenyans - we who truly want justice for those who burnt in the Eldoret Church and those were killed in Naivasha - we plead with the international community to help us in our vigilance to ensure justice.

Dear Mr. President...TAKE ME TO THE HAGUE!

Dear Mr. Kibaki,

I am beginning to think that your advisors may not be as competent as they make themselves out to be and perhaps all this democracy stuff is not as effective as you may have thought nor is sitting in parliament, passing bills and having to put up with all those silly squabbles. Mr. Kibaki, I think we have been duped by our friends in the west and all that freedom of speech maneno. No, I don't think it is for Africa.

I mean look at the mess it has got us into: people on the streets protesting because of Palestinians dying (I mean what has that got to do with us??); teachers striking; people complaining that some of your advisors have stolen their maize; you having to go and beg from your buddies in the west; you having to keep bringing your friends into Cabinet and then throwing them out...it's all too complicated. I think we need to learn from our neighbours how to rule a country, not from those silly people in the west who are all crying because they lost their jobs? Pathetic!

And let's get down to the real business. Your advisors were not even able to arrange a proper tribal war and genocide. Shame on them! Everything was perfect. Elections rigged, people hungry, weapons available a stone throw away in Somalia and all they could manage was a couple of thousand people hacked to bits and then they left you to have to sort out all the IDP issues! Hundreds of thousands of people displaced and all those Human Rights activists screaming at you! What a mess.

Mr. Kibaki, I would like to volunteer at my own expense to go to the Hague as soon as possible. I have a great plan. There is this chap currently booked into one of the Hague's finest hotels and he is getting first class treatment because he really knows how to sort things out. This guy really knows how to operate. Check this out:




















Now if you look carefully, the chap holding the automatic weapon could not be more than thirteen or fourteen. So smartly dressed too! I am told young boys are so much easier to deal with. They are trigger happy, have no idea what democracy is all about and all it takes is a little bit of this and that. And our country is full of those useless street urchins! We can put them to good use and I bet you anything it will cost you half the price of what you have to pay your advisors to sit around all day in parliament to play with their new mobile phones!

After careful research, I am convinced that this is definitly the way to go. So much easier than starving people to death as well. And a lot cleaner. Compare this:

And this:















I am sure you would agree with me that the latter strategy is much more effective, much less noisy and so much easier to implement. Look around you: Rwanda, Darfur, Congo, Uganda, Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea. If they can do it properly why can't we??

So, Mr Kibaki, please help me arrange a visa to the Hague and I promise you that all your questions will be answered! I am happy to pay for myself as a gesture of patriotism to Kenya (and I even promise to bring some of that fine chocolate back too!)