Now Jubilee hits back at ICC over leakage claims

Jubilee MPs led by National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale (seated left) and his Senate counterpart Kithure Kindiki address a press conference at Parliament Buildings Wednesday where they faulted the ICC on leakage claims in President Uhuru Kenyatta’s case. [PHOTO: BONIFACE OKENDO/STANDARD]

NAIROBI, KENYA: Jubilee MPs launched a fresh attack on the International Criminal Court (ICC) after judges reprimanded the Kenya government for allegedly leaking confidential information related to President Uhuru Kenyatta's case.

Close to 50 MPs allied to the ruling coalition accused the ICC of making the ruling to set the stage for a finding of non-compliance against Kenya and advance what they alleged is a political conspiracy against President Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto's Jubilee government.

ICC judges are scheduled to rule on whether the Kenya government is guilty of obstructing investigations by the prosecution in the case against the Head of State after prosecutors claimed they were unable to secure records of Uhuru's wealth and telephone conversations.

But Uhuru's lawyers have sought a termination of his case for lack of evidence and the ruling is expected any time. In their carefully choreographed tirade Wednesday, the Jubilee leaders attacked the ICC, alleging an international plot to block Uhuru and his deputy from staying in power beyond the 2017 General Election.

Majority Leader in the National Assembly Aden Duale and his Senate colleague Kithure Kindiki led close to 50 MPs, including senators, to a news conference at Nairobi's Parliament buildings at which they declared the ruling coalition is fed up with the ICC.

They claimed the court was trying to paint the Government as uncooperative and termed the latest warning from the ICC judges over leaking of confidential information by the Government a 'desperate' and 'bizarre' allegation.

They said the information made public during the status conference a fortnight ago was released by the court and therefore the Government should not bear the blame.

"To term something deliberately presented in the public domain as a leakage is dishonest and absurd," said Duale.

The lawmakers defended their bosses and warned the international court to expect a duel at the Assembly of States Parties meeting due in December.

They appeared to be banking on the numerical strength of African countries in the Assembly to bludgeon the court and the judges into submission: that it had no case against the top two Kenyan leaders and former journalist Joshua arap Sang'.

"The need for truth and justice is real and raw, and not some theoretical thesis to be debated at the leisure of cynics and political operatives. The country and victims do not need a process aimed at political machination. Enough is enough!" said Duale.

The President and his deputy have pending cases at the court for their alleged role in the 2007/08 post-poll violence. However, in the President Kenyatta's case, the prosecutor has conceded there is not enough evidence to proceed to trial, citing the Jubilee government's alleged refusal to fully disclose Uhuru's wealth and records of his telephone conversations during the period of the violence.

Duale and Kindiki stuck to the Jubilee administration's script that there were politicians and activists behind the cases and these groups were keen to oust Jubilee from power in 2017.

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They alleged that because ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda asked for the cases to be postponed to 2017, it must be her political goal to make difficult for the President and his deputy to seek re-election.

"Having failed miserably in 2013, the ICC and their local political and civil society agents are orchestrating another chance to distort the 2017 political equation," said Duale, adding: "We want to tell ICC, its prosecutor and their local political collaborators in no uncertain terms that we have had enough of this travesty."

Perhaps aware that the political outbursts of the ruling coalition could antagonise the court, Kindiki said the judges would not intimidate politicians from seeing the faults in the ICC's handling of the case against their party leaders. "Compliance with the law does not mean we cannot talk. We are fed up with the ICC," said Kindiki.

Kindiki insisted the court should terminate the cases. "In criminal law, it does not happen like that. You do not ask an accused person to give you evidence," said Kindiki.

The MPs and senators then speculated that the ICC was trying to woo the rest of the world to make sure that the Kenyan cases remained in the court, and the State is sanctioned for failing to obey the court's decisions.

The ICC judges in the the President's case are processing a decision on whether to proceed with his trial, freeze the cases until the prosecutor gets more evidence or report the Government of Kenya.

To the MPs, the ICC has revised the script to ensure that the world agrees with whatever decision it will take on the President.

"The revised script is intended to profile the government and political leadership of Kenya as uncooperative with the court, and obstructive of investigations. It is also meant to portray Kenya's leaders as having bribed and interfered with witnesses," said Duale.