Why ICC move could divide Uhuru, Ruto

By STEVE MKAWALE and PROTUS ONYANGO

NAIROBI, KENYA: The admission by the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Fatou Bensouda that she does not have enough evidence on President Uhuru Kenyatta’s case has sent tongues wagging with many fearing it could throw asunder the Jubilee coalition.

That Bensouda wants more time to collect more evidence has been interpreted by some of Deputy President William Ruto’s allies as a sign that the court is preparing to drop the President’s case altogether.

Although Bensouda has made it clear that she is not about to withdraw the charges against President Kenyatta, politicians in the Rift Valley region are questioning the decision by the ICC prosecutor to defer the case while allowing that against his deputy to proceed.

“People have started asking questions about the ongoing trial at The Hague. If there is no evidence against President Kenyatta, why should there be evidence against Ruto?” posed nominated Senator Liz Chelule.

Chelule, who was nominated to the Senate by the United Republican Party (URP), observed that if the case against the President collapses while Ruto’s and Sang’s proceeds a number of issues are bound to arise.

“The ICC case will determine the country’s political direction in the coming month. We are going to witness many political movements revolving around the Deputy President’s trial,” she said.

Other leaders interviewed opined that the decision by the Office of The Prosecutor to adjourn the case against the President might pose the toughest unity test for the Jubilee government — that is two months shy of celebrating its first anniversary.

“The Deputy President alone at The Hague facing charges of crimes against humanity might conjure feelings of isolation and cause jitters among Jubilee supporters in the Rift Valley,” said Molo MP Jacob Macharia.

Macharia, who won the seat on a TNA ticket, said the political union between the President and his deputy was at stake but urged Ruto’s supporters in the region to understand that both cases at the ICC were collapsing.

“We have seen a number of witnesses lined up by the prosecution to testify against our leaders withdrawing. Ruto’s case will eventually collapse just like that of the President,” said the MP.

Nairobi based lawyer Charles Kanjama is also of the view that any move to drop Uhuru’s case might cause political tension in the country.

“Rift Valley will view the outcome as lack of equal treatment of the President and his deputy. Former ICC Chief Prosecutor Moreno Ocampo wanted to give equal treatment to PNU and ODM as far as post-election violence is concerned,” Mr Kanjama said.

Bureti South MP Bernard Bett and his Bureti counterpart Leonard Sang said they were optimistic that the Deputy President will be a free man.

“The Deputy President’s case at The Hague has been hemorrhaging since the charges were confirmed by the ICC judges,” said Bett.

Sang urged Jubilee supporters in the region to remain united as the Deputy President fights to clear his name at The Hague.

“What the Office of The Prosecutor is trying to do is break the unity in Jubilee. Bensouda knows that the move to stop President Kenyatta’s trial and continue with that of the Deputy President is likely to cause disunity among Jubilee supporters,” said sang

 “By now Kenyans know how the ICC operates, the Office of the Prosecutor should understand that the country will remain united despite those attempts to end one of the cases and continue with another,” Chelule added.

According to Kanjama, Jubilee must show commitment that it is working hard to end both cases and not just the President’s.

“It is not true that ICC wants to separate the two leaders because it does not engage in local politics,” he added.

According to Prof Macharia Munene who teaches History at the United States International University (USIU), these are two different cases, which must be prosecuted differently and the outcome might be different. He sees no reason for panic among the supporters of the Deputy President.

“Some Rift Valley MPs are using the opportunity to play politics but they know that if Ruto is imprisoned, it gives one of them opportunity to emerge as a Kalenjin leader,” says Prof Munene.