“What a great display of worthlessness of candor?” a friend of mine remarked. Yet another one said, “It is a slap in the face of all those who thought for a minute that the new constitution was to be in itself a breath of fresh air.” I could not agree more with them. Amid all the pomp and fanfare that greeted the promulgation of the rafitified constitution was the conspicuous presence of Omar El Bashir at Uhuru Park. At the very least, his presence was an egregious violation of Kenya`s new constitutional chapter. His presence provided an anti-climax to this country`s constutional hour.
Suffice it to say that President Kibaki had all the powers to invite whomever he wished in to the country for that auspicious occasion, subject only to one caveat—that in so doing, he does not ride roughshod over the sovereign will of the people of Kenya. It must be remembered that Kenya has domesticated the Rome statute making it part and parcel of our constitution. By inviting, dining and wining with a person indicted by ICC for committing heinous acts of murder against hundreds of thousands of Sudanese people, President Kibaki violated not only the Rome Statute but he has also violated the sovereign will of the people of Kenya for which parliament and the conscientious public must hold him accountable.
Clearly, State House knew that this invitation would create a huge furore locally and internationally but still went ahead to make this egregious mistake and place the country under a flood of international condemnation with possible sanctions in the pipeline.
The fact that the planners at State House were undeterred is perhaps a clear indication that there is a coterie which for known reasons is irked with the Rome Statute. It (coterie), elected to use this invitation to send clear signals to ICC that Kenya will most certainly circumvent any attempts at retributive justice over the 2008 post election violence.
Apparently, this particular invitation was “a top state secret.” Not even the Foreign Affairs Ministry was privy to it. This explains the Ministry`s fuzzed responses when put to task to explain Bashir`s presence in the country. First, the Assistant Minister in the ministry mumbled something about Kenya arresting Bashir upon receiving a formal request from the ICC. Then the Foreign Affairs Minister, Moses Wetangula whimsically retorted that Kenya believes that nurturing peace and reconciliation in Sudan is a commendable ideal than arresting Bashir. What cheap hocus-pocus!
Any Tom, Dick and Harry can tell that such statements are just but cynical slogans, or euphemisms for impunity. Beneath this veneer of “reconciliation and peace building” is a calculated move aimed at protecting some politicians who may be in ICC`s books over their alleged involvement in the 2008 post election violence.
There is no doubt here that Kenya is hell bent on sending a strong statement to the world that its cooperation with ICC in terms of investigation, apprehending and prosecution of the suspected perpetrators of the post election violence, will not be guaranteed. There could be no other better way of sending that message than hosting and ensuring the safe passage of Bashir to and from Kenya under the full glare of the world. Call it impunity if you like.
TOME FRANCIS,
BUMULA.
http://twitter.com/tomefrancis
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