Lets Give Justice a Chance

With lack of able and responsible leadership in the African Union, the fight against impunity and corruption may not be won. The recent utterances by African head of states over the ICC question is on of the very many problems the continent may continue to experience perhaps for the  next 50 or so years. From time to time we have argued that everyone is equal before the law in regardless of creed or believe.

What I don’t understand and most probably will not agree is, is the case in the international Criminal Court a case between the PEV victims and the state of Kenya? Are the victims guaranteed of their justice if the cases are brought back home? Who does the Kenyan attorney General of Kenya represent at the ICC, is it Kenya or Kenyatta?

The recent development of the ICC trials if put in to context show exactly serious the court is in the business of fighting impunity and the culture of some people being the so called untouchable. I was among those who pushed for the ICC process in 2011 on the paradigm of social justice and ending the culture of ‘justice delayed, denied justice’.

When ICC pre-trial chamber II issued unsealed arrest warrant for Walter Barasa, hell broke loose in the jubilee administration over the implementation of the warrant. From time to time we have stressed that the general rules of international law shall form part of the law of Kenya. And if article 2[5] is read together with article 143[4] then Kenya’s sovereignty is not under stake as the jubilee legislators tried to say.

Under article 143[4] the immunity of the President shall not extend to a crime for which the President may be prosecuted under any treaty to which Kenya is party; and which prohibits such immunity. And therefore the cry by the Kenyatta regime over the ICC process should be treated as a mere ‘not funny’ joke that is long overdue.

The issuance of the arrest warrant may be treated as a litmus test for Kenyatta’s administration commitment to the international criminal court. I remember the submissions made by Senator James Orengo on Kenya’s withdrawal from the Rome Statute. The senior council said that 32 countries in Africa are signatories of the Rome Statute and therefore have an advantage to make amendments to the treaty. He said the latest amendments better known as Kampala Amendments of the Rome statute Kenya failed to prosecute its own case and now has become a cry baby of Africa.

I always agree with lawyer Aluku Silas who has from time to time said that we may un-sign the Rome statute but we may not escape the hook of the general international law that we voted for in 2010 to end the culture of impunity and deliver justice to those denied.

I always find Uganda a country that makes ungrounded statements for financial gains. Uhuru’s over reliance to Museveni on matters pertaining ICC is by itself a suicide mission as Museveni supported the indictment of Joseph Kony a man who he has fought for 27years. I read article on Pierre Mbemba and the Uganda’s IGP Lt. Gen. Kale Kayihura who Museveni has been uping with the ranks after the Incident at Uganda-DRC border. It’s high time we understand the motive behind every statement our leaders make and ask the obvious question, is it necessary?

Yesterday, I was having a discussion with my grandma on the same topic and her arguments were, justice is the only way forward and must be delivered equally in regardless of the position one holds on the government.

Drafters of the Rome statute included a very important clause that haunts African dictators. Article 27 of the Rome statute renders the Uhuru Kenyatta’s presidency irrelevant and argues that all persons are equal before the ICC.

Article 27 of the Rome Statute states, “This Statute shall apply equally to all persons without any distinction based on official capacity. In particular, official capacity as a Head of State or Government, a member of a Government or parliament, an elected representative or a government official shall in no case exempt a person from criminal responsibility under this Statute, nor shall it, in and of itself, constitute a ground for reduction of sentence. Immunities or special procedural rules which may attach to the official capacity of a person, whether under national or international law, shall not bar the Court from exercising its jurisdiction over such a person.”

It’s my wish that Attorney General serves the people of Kenya and not any other person to end the culture of Impunity and let justice take its own course