Raila Odinga faults ICC for dismissing cases against Uhuru, Ruto

CORD leader Raila Odinga has faulted the International Criminal Court (ICC) for dismissing cases against President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto.

In an article published on international agency AFP, Raila is quoted as saying the failure to prosecute the two leaders “spells doom for global efforts to fight impunity” claiming ICC gave in to Kenya’s blackmail on withdrawal from the Rome Statute.

“The ICC’s failure to try top Kenyan leaders for crimes against humanity in the country’s worst violence since independence spells doom for global efforts to fight impunity,” the ODM leader is quoted as saying.

“ICC allowed itself to be blackmailed by Kenya through the AU (African Union) that African states are going to pull out because you are trying African heads of state,” he stated.

He, however, noted that it was only fair for ICC to drop cases against Ruto, after the dismissal of the case against Uhuru last year, for political balance ahead of the 2017 elections.

The CORD coalition leader called on African countries to backtrack on their urge to withdraw from ICC saying doing so will perpetuate crimes against humanity in the continent.

“There is no alternative mechanism in Africa to deal with these cases and secondly Africa is the biggest violator currently of human rights. Africa needs ICC more than any part of the world,” he said.

In an oblique hit at Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni, Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe and Rwandan President Paul Kagame, Raila stated that: “We are seeing the emergence of strongman presidencies and almost presidents for life where time limits of terms are being changed for presidents to remain for life.”

The three leaders are among the few in the continent who have moved to extend their term limits including alteration the Constitution to make their tenure legal.

The article was sourced from an interview between Raila and Georja Calvin-Smith on France 24’s “Eye On Africa” show.

Neither Mr Odinga, nor his party secretariat has issued a statement on matter.

Raila’s utterances point at serious inconsistency on his part regarding his stand on the matter of ICC.

The ODM leader was among the first leaders to congratulate DP Ruto after ICC announced the dismissal of his case at the ICC.

In a statement to media, Raila said: “As ODM, we congratulate Deputy President William Ruto on the ruling by the International Criminal Court that he has no case to answer in regard to the post-election violence of 2007-2008.”

“It has always been our position that ODM, to which Hon. Ruto was a key member in 2007, planned no violence against other Kenyans.”

The CORD leader has in several occasions come out to refute allegations from Jubilee leaders, among them Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria that he fixed DP Ruto at the ICC.

He had vehemently stated that he could not have fixed Ruto since he was a member of his ODM party, instead blaming President Uhuru Kenyatta for Ruto’s ICC woes.

Raila’s co-principal in CORD Kalonzo Musyoka also headed a delegation of government officials who led shuttle diplomacy in attempts to push for the withdrawal of Africa from the ICC, during his time as Vice President, after the then Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo released a list of six Kenyans to be tried at the ICC in 2010.

The latest utterances are also set to spark renewed political tension between former allies-turned-foes Raila and Ruto who have for close to five years been on varying paths after he quit ODM for Uhuru’s Jubilee ahead of the 2013 elections.

@benjaminwafula