Kenya not rallying for ICC mass withdrawal: Amina

Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary, Amb. Amina Mohamed briefs the press on the forthcoming special AU Heads of State Summit to be held in Addis Ababa at Harambee House, Nairobi.Looking on from left are Communication Secretary and State House Spokesperson Manoah Esipisu, PSCU Director Munyori Buku. PHOTO/PSCU  

In Summary

• The AU Summit will discuss Africa’s future relationship with the ICC
• Ms Mohammed pledged Kenya’s commitment to cooperate with ICC
• President Uhuru Kenyatta scheduled to appear before court on November 12

By JOHN NJAGI
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Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Ms Amina Mohammed has said it would be unprecedented for a sitting President to appear in a foreign court.

She however said the country was not planning to lead mass withdrawal from the International Criminal Court during the special AU summit in Addis Ababa this weekend.

The Summit will discuss Africa’s future relationship with the ICC.

Ms Mohammed pledged Kenya’s commitment to cooperate with The Hague based court ahead of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s scheduled court appearance on November 12.

“In advanced countries, sitting presidents are not hurled before courts; It’s for the courts to wait for the president to finish their terms before proceedings can be instituted,” she said.

Although Ms Mohammed stressed the country’s continued cooperation with the ICC for the past five years, she said the circumstances for President Kenyatta were different, as he had been elected president.

The government, she said eagerly awaited the decision of the ICC on whether it would allow request by President Kenyatta’s defence team that he attends court sessions via video link, saying being allowed such space was necessary to run the country’s affairs effectively.

She said the AU summit that will begin on Friday with a ministerial executive council and summit meeting of Heads of States on Saturday would among other issues discuss the continent’s relationship with the ICC.

Other agenda would be to elect a new commissioner for political affairs for the AU after Mr Ramtane Lamamra was appointed Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs as well as election of president of State parties to the Rome Statute, representing the 34 member countries from Africa.

Ms Mohammed said the country had no agenda to present to the AU meeting regarding the country’s withdrawal from the Rome Statute, saying any other country was at liberty to introduce such an agenda, owing to the dynamic structure of such meetings.

FUTURE ICC CASES

“African countries form the largest constituency of the Rome Statute and I think all of them have expressed issues that they want addressed at one time or another. The summit will present that opportunity,” she said.

Speaking at a press briefing at Harambee House in Nairobi, the minister said the country would however welcome a continental mechanism to deal with future ICC cases, saying that going by rhetoric by various Heads of State in Africa, no African was likely to appear before the foreign Court in future.

“We have been pushing for a regional mechanism to handle cases facing Africans, and going by pronouncements by leaders in the continent, you would be lucky to see an African standing before a foreign court in future,” she said.

With regard to deferral of the cases to the region, Ms Mohammed disclosed that some western nations had offered to help bolster the capacity of some of the regional courts to handle cases facing the three Kenyans, and other regional leaders.

Despite the country’s shuttle diplomacy on deferral of the ICC cases and parliament’s decision to withdraw from the Rome Statute, the Cabinet Secretary said there was no cause for panic, saying

President Kenyatta, deputy President William Ruto and radio journalist Joshua Sang who are facing crimes against humanity charges in connection with the post-election violence in 2008, would continue attending trial.