KENYA: Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta reacts to ICC move to name him as one of the top suspects behind post poll violence in 2008

Record ID: 361771

  • Title: KENYA: Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta reacts to ICC move to name him as one of the top suspects behind post poll violence in 2008
  • Date: 16th December 2010
  • Summary: NAIROBI, KENYA (DECEMBER 15, 2010) (REUTERS) WIDE OF DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER AND FINANCE MINISTERS NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) KENYA'S DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER AND FINANCE MINISTER, UHURU KENYATTA SAYING: "I don't think it will have much impact, we are still working here, work will continue, Kenya will continue, the government will continue, the economy will contin
  • Embargoed: 31st December 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kenya, Kenya
  • Country: Kenya
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA7F2PB35VXE1HP9UVR71MTAHT3
  • Story Text: The International Criminal Court prosecutor named three Kenyan government ministers and a former police chief on Wednesday among six suspects behind the east African country's post-election violence in 2008.
    The widely awaited announcement of the ICC's cases has the potential to destabilise Kenya's fragile coalition, or unity government, which was formed by President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga to bring the violence to an end and restore stability.
    One of the named suspects, Kenya's deputy prime minister and minister for finance Uhuru Kenyatta said there wont be much impact as the government will continue and economies projection will be sustained.
    "I don't think it will have much impact, we are still working here, work will continue, Kenya will continue, the government will continue, the economy will continue so as far a am concerned I don't think it will have any impact whatsoever, Kenya continues and we prove that we are a mature country able to handle our issues," said Kenya's deputy prime minister and minister for finance Uhuru Kenyatta.
    On the streets, it was a welcome move to most residents though some were shocked to hear a suspect who is not know at all.
    "We will be happy to see most of these guys brought to book because we want to end the impunity," said Jeff Ngetich, a Nairobi resident.
    "If there was a way we could pull out of this ICC thing, we expected the ICC to give us hope because we thought the local tribunal will be more manipulated than the ICC but we now think the ICC is more manipulated than the local tribunal," added Packly Mutinda.
    More than 1,220 people died and 350,000 were displaced, severely denting Kenya's reputation for stability in a turbulent region.
    Political analysts said even if the names of the people on the lists had been circulating within Nairobi for a while, it was still a shock when they were read out at the Hague.
    "The people who been named today of course it strikes at the very heart of Kenya you almost fell even if you had seen the names in the human rights report for example that you almost fell like you've been swept off your feet by this, but then we also thinking we have this window of opportunity between now and 2012 to sort out quite a number of issues," said political analyst Alice Nderitu.
    ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said he was requesting summons for suspended education minister William Ruto, finance minister Uhuru Kenyatta, industrialisation minister Henry Kiprono Kosgey, and former police chief Mohammed Hussein Ali for alleged murder, deportation, and persecutions.
    "For the head of civil service Mr. Francis Muthaura, you get the sense that all the others were somehow involved, not somewhere involved but were going to be mentioned and you then there was a quite a picture created there were various lists going around Nairobi and this list had most of this names that we are seeing today which of course does not mean they are guilty," added Nderitu.
    The ICC case is intended to act as a deterrent against violence in future elections, next due in 2012, demonstrating that politicians who instigate mayhem will be punished.
    The naming of suspects had heightened tensions in Kenya, where media reports say changes in the cabinet could follow as senior figures come under pressure to resign.
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