In late 2008, the
chorus was all too deafening, as politicians urged the country not to be vague
but rather go to The Hague. This was in reference to the famous Waki 6 envelope
that had been handed to the former United Nations Secretary General, Koffi
Annan. Slowly but surely, The International Criminal
Court, ICC, was baring its teeth. Luis Moreno Ocampo, the then media friendly
prosecutor made several trips to Kenya, and even adopted a cheetah! Little did
our politicians realize that this was no public relations! Ocampo had a job
that had to be done! Our politicians, the masters of double-speak were keen on
having the International Criminal Court, ICC, ensuring that victims of the
2007-2008 indeed got justice. According to them, the only avenue to realizing
this was through the ICC!
Former Justice Minster,
Martha Karua and her successor, former Makueni senator, the late Mutula
Kilonzo, and Gitobu Imanyara all saw their efforts for a local tribunal
viciously squashed by the August House. Our politicians in the 10th
House dug their political graves and laid the political landmines that are now
threatening the political lives of their colleagues and a now job-less
journalist, Joshua arap Sang’.
Our president, Uhuru
Kenyatta and his deputy, William Ruto are now fighting the battle along te
corridors of internal justice in a foreign land. And now, the same politicians
have since voted for Kenya’s withdrawal from the ICC. The distorted truths and
outright lies that Kenya’s sovereignty is at stake and that the ICC is a
political witch-hunt are the talk across the political class. But a question
begs, why did the politicians thwart efforts to form a local tribunal to
address the post-poll nightmare? The answer is simple; no politician ever
believed that Luis Moreno Ocampo was going to make them pay. They saw the ICC
as an empty threat and a distant dream that best existed in movies. Sadly, the
reality has set in and in a bitter way.
The fear is real and
the grand trial is on. Do not forget
that Kenya is the first country to have her sitting president and his deputy in
the dock at the ICC. The tenth
parliament is squarely to blame for this. Had they listened to Karua, Mutula
Kilonzo and Imanyara and heeded to retired president Kibaki and former premier,
Raila Odinga, then this would not be happening. Mutula must be laughing in his
graveyard at the turn of events that he had so well cautioned against. Karua
and Imanyara, in their political oblivion must too be laughing the loudest.
The obsolete show of
solidarity by the Linturi-led mps to the Hague, is just a non-starter. Former
premier, Raila Odinga once metaphorically laughed off this move by a section of
legislators, adding that it is a pure waste of time and money that could have
perhaps being channeled to better use. Otherwise how do you explain it when
they could not even access the court-room and worse still ended up getting an
hairdryer treatment form the law enforcers at the Hague? Mithika Linturi and
his colleagues should have learnt that not every part of the world is Nairobi
where they can boss around as they wish. In Europe, the law is respected and
status counts for nothing when it comes to the rule of law. Perhaps they could
have taken a tour of the Amsterdam Port and learned a thing or two to change
our congested Mombasa Port, or better still, they could have attended the Dutch
Eredivisie and watched Ajax Amsterdam or PSV Eindhoven live in action!
As an independent, free
and educated mind of the modern society, we must face it and accept that the
tenth House took President Uhuru, his deputy William Ruto and journalist, arap
Sang, to The Hague. They had all the power and time to form a local tribunal,
but they chose not to. The voices of Karua, Mutula, Imanyara and a few others
were all drowned by the parliamentarians. About four years later, when the ICC
wheels roll the tune suddenly changes and deliberate half-truths and lies that
our sovereignty is on sale, rent the air. Worse still, our legislators, some
who were in the tenth House and fresh faces in the 11th House,
travelled together, apparently to give moral support to our sons at The Hague.
This is pretentious, cheap deceit and politics of sycophancy, that define us.
The political gods are
not to blame. Rather, our mps in the tenth House took us to The Hague. We
should be men enough and still chant ‘Let us not be vague, let us go to The
Hague!
Published
on 2nd October 2013,
Mutuamaundu.blogspot.com
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