This is a poor effort of trying to exonerate ICC crimes against humanity indictee Uhuru Kenyatta.
The fact is, the ICC is a credible court with very competent judges and lawyers who as any such court will impart justice in accordance with the law.
To dismiss the court as doing the political bidding for the West is naive at best.
My suggestion is find another way to promote Uhuru than what you have done here and to say Raila's campaign is "almost exclusively" predicated on ICC goes to show you're clueless as to what Raila's campaign is about or you know and are simply advancing your own theories not based on fact.
In sum, the ICC process is on we all should let it take its course.
It's pointless and an exercise in futility to try and litigate the cases on these forums or elsewhere other than at the ICC.
Peace, Unity and Truth
Omwenga
On Tue, Feb 26, 2013 at 12:36 AM, David ochwangi <dochwangi@yahoo.com> wrote:
Folks,The moment we have all been anxiously waiting for is almost here. In less than ten days from today, our country's government will transition into a new government structure in a democratic process through the ballot box. The fact that this will happen is obvious and the historic significance of this election can never be overstated. Like millions of my fellow Kenyans who love Kenya dearly, I am concerned about the country's trajectory; allow me to also add my contribution to this debate with respect to the presidential race to State House.
THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT (ICC) AS A POLITICAL WEAPON AND THE PEV:
A lot has been said and written about the ICC, many Kenyans are wary of the potential fallout of the country if Uhuru Kenyatta is elected President because of his indictment at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the 2007 Post Election Violence. Indeed his opponents, primarily Prime Minister Raila Odinga and his supporters have staked his campaign almost exclusively on capitalizing on Mr. Kenyatta's circumstances at the ICC.
First, let me be clear; the ICC is a severely compromised court that has evolved from a world court of justice and morphed into a political tool that is now being used to pawn Kenya and to commandeer the people's democratic prerogative to elect a president of their choice. It is no longer about justice for the PEV victims and fighting impunity but rather a convenient tool that the West wants to leverage to impose a puppet government of their choice on Kenyans. The ICC's entire handling of the Kenyan case has been so severely adulterated that there is no question that in its current path, the court will do the country more harm than good.
The United States of America, the world's only superpower, is not a member state of the Rome statute that created the ICC precisely because America recognized long ago, and rightly so, that the court can be used for nefarious political purposes that will jeopardize her sovereignty, exactly what is happening in Kenya today. The American government is keenly aware of the pitfalls wrought by the ICC. It is not by accident that US President Barack Obama, in his televised address from the White House a fortnight ago directly to Kenyans, stated in clear unequivocal terms that the United States takes no sides in Kenya's upcoming elections and that it is up to the Kenyan people themselves to decide. Shortly thereafter, the State Department undersecretary of African Affairs Ambassador Johnny Carson contradicted the president with a veiled threat to Kenyans of severe consequences if they elected Uhuru Kenyatta as the next president. Folks, that is meddling and we must resist it at all costs. I urge all Kenyans to take President Obama at his word. If President Obama wanted to convey a different message to Kenyans, he would do so himself- he does not need anyone to editorialize his messages. President Obama means what he says and says what he means, he is a wise man and means well for Kenya, he has Kenyan blood running in his veins and I am certain he will not purposely cause unnecessary rancor in his father's land. Above all President Obama is the most powerful man on earth and has the final say with respect to the United States of America's policy toward Kenya- he has spoken and we believe him, PERIOD!
Kenya's other so-called development partners, specifically the European Union and its member countries, through their diplomats, have made it clear that they are opposed to Mr. Kenyatta becoming Kenya's next president. They have also threatened Kenyans with "consequences" if they dare elect Uhuru as their president and to cut links to President Uhuru Kenyatta to "essential contacts" (I am not even sure what other "non-essential" contact there is between these governments and Kenya's). Be that as it may- the unmistakable message they are sending is that they prefer PM Raila Odinga to Uhuru Kenyatta as Kenya's president. That by definition is imperialism and it helps Uhuru and hurts Raila.
Folks, let me very clear once again, nobody, no country and no power in this world can hold Kenyans at ransom or commandeer her sovereignty. Clearly they are trying to as we have seen but it is our responsibility to stop preserve it, to stand up to western bullying and defend Kenya's independence; at the ballot box on March 4- Kenyans have the final say. I can't think of any real reason they treat us this way other than because they take us for ignorant cowards.
Even granting the now diluted and warped predicate that the ICC genuinely wants to pursue justice for the victims of Kenya's PEV, Uhuru Kenyatta and his co-defendants are still entitled to due process and the presumption of innocence and we must not rush to judgment until they have had their day in court. Denying Uhuru the opportunity to lead because of the ICC is tantamount to condemning him before he has had his day in court. As you read this, the case against Uhuru Kenyatta may actually be falling apart; the court seems to be coming to terms that former Chief Prosecutor Louis Moreno Ocampo applied poor judgment in exercising his prosecutorial discretion in indicting Uhuru Kenyatta. About a month ago, the court dismissed witness 4, the key witness whom Ocampo and the court relied to indict and confirm charges against Mr. Kenyatta because his testimony against Uhuru Kenyatta was perjured. As we now know, witness 4 and a few others were coached and bribed by Kenya's civil society and the Kenya Human Rights Commission people to bear false testimony to frame Mr. Kenyatta. Without witness 4's purported "direct evidence", the case against Uhuru Kenyatta practically crumbles. Other witnesses' evidence against Mr. Kenyatta has no probative value to the ICC and I shudder to imagine that Kenyans would be suckered by such diabolical schemes as to condemn Mr. Kenyatta, I say let's not take part in these falsehoods. It is better and more satisfactory to acquit a thousand guilty persons than to punish a single innocent man.
The facts are that thousands of suspects committed the macabre atrocities of the PEV; the Kenyan government was derelict in its sacrosanct duty to protect Kenyans and even worse, it failed to provide justice to the victims. There is plenty of blame to go around for the PEV, whereas I am not excusing the conduct of the now defunct Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK), the truth is elections are a civil matter and can never be an excuse for violence. It is ODM and its leader Raila Odinga who, after rubbishing the law and the courts to have his election grievances addressed, called for mob justice in the name of "Mass Action". Those of you who argue that Mass Action is permissible recourse for protest; I say no, there is cause and effect and in this case, Mass Action needlessly caused Mass Deaths, human displacements and destruction of property. Raila is a good man but he failed to control his supporters or even attempt to. The signs blasted on TV screens worldwide read, "NO RAILA NO PEACE" – not once did Raila Odinga try to stop the violence and he only intervened after an agreement that made him Prime Minister was in place. Even after the PEV ended, Raila Odinga was steadfast in defending the suspects, he said that the violence was a "spontaneous reaction" by those going after their "stolen cows"; it wasn't until after the international community stepped in that he changed his tune and told everybody to carry their own crosses. I mean the facts speak for themselves. When it was politically expedient, Raila defended the suspects and when it wasn't, he abandoned them, he cannot have it both ways, either he is for justice or he is not.
My point is, let's be fair, President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga ran for president in 2007; they bear the greatest responsibility for the PEV- not Uhuru. It befuddles me why and how only Uhuru Kenyatta is being demonized as the pariah for the ills of others. Where are Odinga and Kibaki's apportioned responsibilities? Justice Philip Waki's infamous envelope contained 20 names of those considered the most responsible for the violence and even though the ICC picked only the six for prosecution, Waki refused to disclose the names of the remaining 14 suspects. Justice Waki's commission was funded by public funds and its findings should be a matter of public record according to the constitution but the envelope remains concealed from the public. This alone frustrates the purpose of justice for the victims and deterrence of future crimes. Nobody can assure Kenyans that none of the unnamed suspects are on the ballot for president, so why the double standards? Voters are entitled to know the whole truth before they head to the elections next week. My point is, the ICC and indeed the Kenyan government are not serious about justice for the victims or fighting impunity because selective prosecution is no justice at all, it only creates inequality and unnecessary resentment. We must insist on fairness, it is justice for all always or none at all. When viewed in this prism, Uhuru Kenyatta is clearly the winner.
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