President Museveni thanks Kenyans for defying ICC threats

Daily Monitor Reporter

Posted  Tuesday, April 9  2013 at  15:06

President Yoweri Museveni congratulated Kenyans Tuesday for voting in Uhuru Kenyatta as Kenya's fourth president in defiance of his looming international trial for crimes against humanity.

"I want to salute the Kenyan voters on...the rejection of the blackmail by the International Criminal Court (ICC) and those who seek to abuse this institution for their own agenda," he said in a speech following Kenyatta's taking of the oath of office in Nairobi, Kenya.

He said, like, Uganda; that went through decades of instability that claimed about 800,000 lives were, 

Kenyans can solve their problems without seeking help from the ICC.

He said ‘legal gymnastics’ in foreign lands cannot help African resolve their problems.

Mr Museveni said he supported the ICC because impunity in Africa should be fought. However, Mr Museveni said, using the ICC for selfish interests has distorted the purpose of the institution.

 “Have you ever heard us asking ICC or the UN to come and help us deal with that sad chapter of our history? We only referred Joseph Kony of LRA to ICC because he was operating outside Uganda,” Mr Museveni said.

Mr Kenyatta and his deputy, William Ruto, face charges at the ICC relating to post-election violence five years ago.

They were on opposite political sides at the time and both deny the accusations.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who faces an ICC arrest warrant over the conflict in Darfur, is not in Nairobi for the inauguration.

Mr Kenyatta is the son of Kenya's founding father, Jomo Kenyatta, and is heir to one of the largest fortunes in Kenya.

Mr Museveni thanked Mr Raila Odinga and his running mate Kalonzo Musyoka for the statesman-like manner in which they handled the outcome of the polls and subsequently, a court verdict that was not favourable to them.

Mr Odinga did not attend the ceremony after his attempt to overturn Mr Kenyatta's victory in court failed.

“This maturity exhibited by different actors in this Kenyan electoral process, is a source of pride for all the Africans,” he said.

Mr Museveni who is the chairman of the East African community rallied leaders and citizens in the region to work together to pacify the region and ensure that the vast resources in the region are effectively utilised to realise development.

“On account of this coordinated effort and unity of purpose, we will meaningfully exploit our resources, add value to them and fully grow our economies to maturity and begin an irreversible break from poverty,” he said.