By ALLY JAMAH
Kenya: Africa Union decision seeking referral of cases facing President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia follows a similar resolution passed last year.
He explained that since African States have a significant leverage over the ICC due to their huge membership of 34, their request cannot fail to make an impact on ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda against convicting President Kenyatta.
Judicial process
“The court wouldn’t want to lose such a huge number of members. Infact, if African States walk away from the court, the institution would lose at least 80 per cent of its work. It would be left much weaker than ever.
The AU decision is a political strategy to influence a judicial process. The ICC is a creature of politics and its work may often be influenced by political decisions outside the court,” he said. He explained that the AU move has no legal impact on the crimes against humanity cases facing Uhuru and Ruto, but it is a tactic to intimidate the judicial process at The Hague to suit political interests.
Lawyer Mbuthi Gathenji told The Standard that the request by AU was not in vain since it was putting significant pressure on Bensouda to drop the cases and have them referred back to Kenya.
Gathenji said that if he were Bensouda, he would have relieved himself of the burden of trying the cases, claiming that they are gradually falling apart and getting a conviction would prove difficult.
“We have seen several significant witnesses recant their evidence against Uhuru and Ruto. One of the judges also withdrew from the case citing shortcomings on how the investigations were conducted by the prosecutor. So the case is difficult to win,” he said.
He added it was not impossible for the cases to be terminated and referred back to Kenya.
“Kenya has both the jurisdiction and the machinery to deal with the cases. There is absolutely no reason why the cases cannot be returned here. So going to the AU is a wise move that Uhuru did,” he said.
He noted the Kenyan case is unique since it was not referred to the ICC by the Government. He said the ICC prosecutor took the initiative to investigate and try the cases after the country failed to establish a credible local mechanism.
“There is nothing wrong with the court. It is just that the prosecutor is not handling the process correctly leaving some people to feel that she is being used to drive a certain agenda against African leaders,” he said.
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