Hague delegation total waste of public funds

 

In Summary

• Locally, the Coalition has organised a series of rallies disguised as prayer meetings for Mr Ruto and Mr Sang’ and used them to castigate the ICC and the Prosecutor, a move which elicited strong warnings from the court’s judges.

By EDITORIAL
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The ongoing meeting of State Parties at the International Criminal Court at The Hague is expected to make critical decisions on the Court’s proceedings, in particular, the use of recanted evidence.

This is of special interest to Kenya because it cuts at the heart of the case facing Deputy President William Ruto and journalist Joshua Sang’.

Based on submission by the Court’s Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda a couple of months ago, the judges ruled that they would allow the use of recanted evidence on the Ruto-Sang’ case, putting their fate on the line.

Since then, the Jubilee Administration has been on the offensive seeking to avert that ruling.

Locally, the Coalition has organised a series of rallies disguised as prayer meetings for Mr Ruto and Mr Sang’ and used them to castigate the ICC and the Prosecutor, a move which elicited strong warnings from the court’s judges.

The drive to overturn the ruling has been taken a notch higher with Kenya sending a strong delegation to the State Parties meeting, among them Cabinet secretaries and MPs, which is the point of contention.

Questions are being asked why the government had to send such a big delegation to The Hague at taxpayers’ cost when they are not going to do anything.

If it is lobbying, the government has the capacity to do so without the crowd at The Hague.

Moreover, it must be remembered that the case facing Mr Ruto and Mr Sang’ is not a collective trial of Kenya, therefore, it is not fair to create a siege mentality and commit so much resources on it.

It must also be noted that the victims of the post-election violence are still crying for justice yet nobody is speaking for them.

At a time of austerity, it does not make sense for the government to send such a big delegation to The Hague to waste taxpayers’ money for what had been described as a “personal challenge”.