Raila's lawyer turns gun to ICC prosecutor Karim Khan

Lawyer Paul Mwangi during the presidential petition at the supreme court in Nairobi on September 2, 2022. [David Gichuru, Standard]

Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition party lawyer Paul Mwangi has written to the International Criminal Court (ICC) over the conflict of interest of prosecutor Karim Khan.

Mr Mwangi in his letter to Hague's head of Independent Oversight Mechanism claims that Khan's alleged dalliance with Kenya creates little confidence to victims of international crimes.

According to Mwangi, the ICC prosecutor's conduct casts doubt on whether the victims would get justice.

This is after Azimio threatened to present petitions against government officials over protestors killed by the police.

In his letter, the senior lawyer claims that Khan represented President William Ruto during the 2007-2008 polls chaos trial.

At the same time, he alleges that the ICC prosecutor and his wife run charity endeavours in Kenya.

However, the lawyer now claims that despite the engagements and the recent honorary doctorate conferment, the ICC prosecutor has never formally recused himself from the Kenyan cases.

"Until August 8, 2023, as will be narrated later in this petition, there has been no official recusal of Mr Khan from the four pending matters stated above nor any known application on his part to the Presidency of The Court to be excused from the situation in Kenya as is contemplated by Article 42(6) of The Rome Statutes," claims Mwangi in his letter dated August 15, 2023.

Mwangi states that a copy of the letter will be sent to the President of The Assembly of State Parties.

Both Ruto and Raila Odinga camps have vowed to take their battle to the ICC.

On one hand, Azimio has openly claimed that they have a collection of videos, pictures, and victims' evidence to profile police brutality.

They allege that the authority to kill and maim was from top Kenya Kwanza government officials.

On the other hand, Kenya Kwanza has vowed to take the war back to Azimio's doorstep.

Already a group claiming to be victims of anti-government protests wants ICC to come after Raila and former President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Their claim mirrors the statements that key allies of President Ruto including Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua have been fronting, to pile the blame on Raila and Uhuru for the loss of lives and destruction of property during the protests.

In a letter written to the ICC, the group wants the Azimio leaders to be held accountable for allegedly attempting to cause political instability in the country.

Through their lawyer, Adrian Kamotho Njenga, the group has alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes in Kenya in a letter addressed to Khan following the anti-government protests.

The letter dated July 28 claims the group is in possession of volumes of evidence against the Azimio principals.

The letter, which outlines events after the 2022 elections, states that the transition after President Ruto's lawful declaration as president by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission has been tainted by a campaign of hate, disinformation, and violence.

"We shall be extremely pleased to avail ourselves to you of all the evidentiary material in the proper order of time and on a suitable occasion," read the letter.

"Astounding to our client is the callous manner in which Hon. Odinga and Hon. Kenyatta continue to sponsor a wave of terror and deadly violence codenamed "Maandamano" against innocent citizens and law enforcement agencies," Kamotho said.

He added that these actions are calculated to cause panic and bloodshed to exploit the resulting chaos for political gain.

According to the group, the calls for mass action have led to widespread violence, ethnic clashes, and heinous crimes that shook the conscience of humanity.

As part of their plea to the ICC, the victims pledge to provide extensive evidence of a conspiracy between Uhuru and Raila to destabilise the democratically elected government of Kenya.

However, Mwangi now claims that Khan's position and his dalliance with the country allegedly demonstrate that there are untouchable persons in the country.

"Mr. Khan has by his activities in Kenya demoralized the victims of international crimes and the general population in Kenya and engendered in them feelings of despair and helplessness compounded by the fact that Kenya is a country with an international reputation for promotion and practice of impunity," claims Mwangi.

"Mr Khan has embedded the belief in the Kenyan people that The Court is powerless in the case of Kenya and that all present and future suspects of international crimes touching on Kenya are untouchable."