President Uhuru Kenyatta to address nation ahead of ICC date

Kenya: President Uhuru Kenyatta will this afternoon address an emergency session of Parliament where his summons to appear before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Netherlands is likely to feature.

The special sitting of Parliament comes days after ICC judges ruled he must be present, in person, on Wednesday during a status conference at which his government’s co-operation with the prosecution in the case against him will be discussed.

President Kenyatta will address an anxious nation on his imminent history-making move as the first sitting president to appear before the ICC, a spectacle that Kenya, backed by the African Union, fought hard to block with amendments to the rules governing the court.

But it turns out the amendments to the Rome Statute that Kenya instigated at the ICC Assembly of States Parties last year were not enough to block the summoning of President Kenyatta to the status conference.

Kenya secured crucial concessions like those allowing the president and his deputy William Ruto to skip court sessions, but ultimately the new amendments still gave the judges the discretion to require or excuse the accused’s attendance.

It is the new changes to rule 134 of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence, providing for the presence through the use of video technology and excusal from being physically present at trial due to extraordinary public duties, that the president’s lawyers unsuccessfully cited to have him not be in court.

The amended rule reads: “An accused subject to a summons to appear who is mandated to fulfill extraordinary public duties at the highest national level may submit a written request to the Trial Chamber to be excused and to be represented by counsel only; the request must specify that the accused explicitly waives the right to be present at the trial.”

It adds: “The Trial Chamber shall consider the request expeditiously and, if alternative measures are inadequate, shall grant the request where it determines that it is in the interests of justice and provided that the rights of the accused are fully ensured. The decision shall be taken with due regard to the subject matter of the specific hearings in question and is subject to review at any time.”

The resolutions were adopted at the 12th plenary meeting of the ICC Assembly of States Parties on November 27, 2013.

Citing the new rules, Uhuru’s lawyers Steven Kay and Gillian Higgins argued in the application dated September 2014: “It is respectfully submitted that these are commitments within the meaning and intent of Rule 134 quarter, as they are extraordinary public duties at the highest national level.”

They cited two State engagements in Kampala, Uganda, scheduled for October 7 and 8 that President Kenyatta is to attend.

Video link

Uhuru’s lawyers argued that since the President would be in Kampala, it was not appropriate to request attendance via video link.

 

The defence wanted the status conference rescheduled to a later date “convenient to all parties” and that the President be permitted to attend by way of video link.

However, the ICC Trial Chamber ruled it considered the status conference to constitute a “critical juncture” in the proceedings. Further, the dates for the status conference coincided with the opening statements for which the President’s presence was required.

Yesterday, ICC’s move on Uhuru continued to draw reactions from leaders. Senate Majority Leader Kindiki Kithure claimed the case was collapsing as the charges were ill motivated and the court’s prosecutor had no evidence to sustain it.

“We know our President is innocent, and that he has no case to answer,” Prof Kindiki said in Meru at the weekend.

Education Cabinet Secretary Jacob Kaimenyi said: “We are not happy that our President is going to The Hague. Let all people of goodwill pray for President Kenyatta and his deputy so that the Jubilee Government remains stable.”

Tigania West MP David Kariithi and his Kikuyu counterpart Kamau Ichungwa claimed the case against the President was based on malice.

“Fatou Bensouda is groping in the dark because she has no evidence to sustain the charges against Uhuru. They should leave him alone so that he can lead the country in peace,” said Kariithi of the ICC chief prosecutor.

Ichungwa added: “President Kenyatta is going to return a free man, because even Bensouda says she has no evidence.”

Meru Senator Kiraitu Murungi and Governor Peter Munya said the ICC judges should dismiss the criminal charges against the President.

“The case against Uhuru will collapse, because it is not based on any legal foundation. It was just hatched to malign our President,” said Mr Murungi.

And three Jubilee MPs from Bomet County dismissed claims by CORD leader Raila Odinga and Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale that legislators planning to accompany the President to The Hague were using public funds.

National Assembly Deputy Speaker and Sotik MP Joyce Laboso, Senator Wilfred Lessan and Bomet East MP Bernard Bett said it was disrespectful for Raila to tell the President not to drag the whole country into an issue he termed as “personal challenge” before his election.

Speaking at Lekimbo Secondary School in Bomet East, the MPs said they had not been coerced to go to The Hague, but chose to as a show of solidarity with the Head of State.

Not personal

“We are shocked that the former Prime Minister is terming an issue facing the Head of State and his deputy as personal. It ceased being personal from the time they were elected by Kenyans,” said Laboso.

Senator Kipchumba Murkomen, Governor Alex Tolgos, Marakwet West MP William Kisang and Woman Representative Susan Chebet said if Uhuru honours the summons, it will show that he respects the rule of law.

“It would be a clear act of humility by the President, despite being the Head of State of a sovereign nation, if he agrees to appear before the court in The Hague to prove his innocence,” said Murkomen.