Throughout the past twenty-five years, Kenyans have been promised the moon by their political leaders. Frequently, and tragically, the promises have not been kept. Instead, we have been encouraged to lie, cheat, steal, murder and, generally, raise six kinds of hell in the names of our political masters and their interpretation of historical and political grievances. No one has ever chosen to take a principled stand against the fomenters of hatred and violence.
Our nadir came when we set fire to homes and crops, chased entire families from their homes and raped and murdered our way to international infamy. When Waki, J. enclosed a list of twenty names in an envelope and gave it to Kofi Annan for safekeeping, he could not have imagined that the Government he serves would have acted with such callous disregard for the loss of life or property that had occurred. Until the ICC Prosecutor named the six he would seek to prosecute, no one believed that their politicians could so easily forget that blood had been shed, and that thousands upon thousands of Kenyans are still living in abject, soul-destroying poverty.
When Prof. George Saitoti was unexpectedly fired by President Moi as Vice-President of the Republic, he said that it came a time when the individual had to give way for the country. It is a dictum that he and his colleagues in the Cabinet and, generally, in the government have forgotten. This country will survive the indictment and prosecution of the six Kenyans at The Hague. They are not the State and the State is not them. It matters nought that Uhuru Kenyatta is heir to a political legacy tat goes back to our struggle for independence. It matters nought that Francis Muthaura comes from a community where leaders are revered ad their word is taken as holy writ. It matters nought that three suspects come from one of the most war-like communities in our country. The arrogance demonstrated by the supporters of these men, that they deserve some special protection because of their ranks or their tribes beggars belief.
President Kibaki and Prime Minister Odinga must be reminded that regardless of the outcome of the ICC process, we shall judge them harshly if they allow their lieutenants and acolytes to perpetrate a fraud on the people of Kenya. When they signed an accord ending the political stalemate that had seized the nation in 2008, they promised to do all in their power to see that the merchants of death and destruction were brought to book. Their initial attempts to put together a local tribunal to try cases related to the PEV came to nought. They were left with no choice but to support the efforts of the ICC to see justice done for those who lost their lives and property. They promised to support the efforts of Luis Moreno-Ocampo and, initially, they went along with his investigations. Despite the fact that they have somehow managed to prevent men and women in the security and intelligence establish,et from giving their statements, the ICC Prosecutor seems to have cobbled up enough evidence to bring before the Pre-Trial Chamber II. Now the two Principals have realised that they may have bitten off more than they could chew and they wish to spit out the offending bolus from their collective mouth.
Reliable reports indicate that the Government has embarked on a campaign not only to prevent the trial of the Six at The Hague, but that they will also use the situation to pull out of the Rome Statute along with several other African nations under cover of an AU Resolution. When The Hague was used to try butchers such as Charles Taylor and Slobodan Milosevic, there was nary a word from the Government of Kenya. When Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir was indicted for war crimes and genocide in Darfur, they suddenly woke up to the fact that even sitting heads of state were not outside the purview of the ICC. The African Union has done precious little to ameliorate the suffering of hundreds of thousands of Darfuris, and now it will be a convenient fig leaf to hide the shame that was the Kenyan Situation in 2007 and 2008.
An argument has been made that even if the trials are held at The Hague, they will not do anything to address our problems with impunity in Kenya. They may very well be right, but, regardless of the outcome of The Hague trials, it is undoubtedly a watershed that the Government of Kenya is being held to account for what it did and did not do when Kenyans were dying. This is unprecedented. The situation must be appreciated in that context. While we struggle to establish mechanisms and institutions that will serve the nation, we must not forget that our political leaders have existed in a vacuum, doing as they please knowing that they are above, beyond the law or the reach of any authority. The ICC is proof positive that eve f we fail to resolve our problems with impunity, the comity of nations is watching and will step in as and when necessary.
We are all obsessed with the 2012 general elections as if our lives are tied to that one event. The narrative that has been constructed allows for no other measure of our transition or re-birth. None will even countenance or contemplate the absence of Raila Odinga, William Ruto, Uhuru Kenyatta or Martha Karua from the ballot in 2012. We cannot continue to be held hostage to a five-year election cycle as if our lives are tied to the fates of the political class alone. This morning, heads of secondary schools embarked on the job of admitting students to Form 1, facing the reality of thousands of students who will miss places in prestigious national schools because they are too few. Our health-care system is a shamble and tales of children and women dying in hospital continue to appall us on a daily basis. Young men continue to be gunned down for their, admittedly questionable, associations and affiliations without the benefit of due process. But it is the political calendar that occupies our days and our attentions. Until we face up to the fact that government will not exist without our leave, we will continue to be embarrassed when men, women, children are murdered in their beds because of their perceived 'alieness'.
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