NYANDARUA, Kenya, Jul 11 – Gender and Children Affairs Minister Esther Murugi has welcomed Kofi Annan’s decision to forward the Waki envelope to International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocamp on Thursday.
Mrs Murugi said Kenyans had waited too long for the perpetrators of post poll violence to be brought to book saying it was right that they be prosecuted at the ICC.
Together with Ol-Kalou MP Erastus Mureithi, they accused a section of politicians of trying to frustrate efforts to prosecute the suspects at The Hague adding that it was a shame that a local tribunal had taken too long to be formed.
They urged the ICC to move with speed and disclose the names of those mentioned in the envelope.
Mrs Murugi said investigations into the matter should commence immediately and that those adversely mention should step aside from their positions until they are cleared of any wrong doing.
"Kenyans are eager to know who offended them as the time is now due and everything has calmed. The prosecutor should first name them before he starts his investigations," said the Minister.
Speaking at the Mawingu IDP settlement farm in Nyandarua Central District, the two leaders however dismissed claims that the dealing with the matter through the international criminal court would only catch the big fish.
They suggested that those mentioned in the special envelop and those they used to perpetrate violence be prosecuted at The Hague.
"The other minor offenders who were used by those who financed the tribal clashes should be dealt with through a local criminal court so that justice can prevail," Mr Mureithi argued.
He urged that should the financiers of the violence be tried at a local tribunal, it would be subjected to un-necessary interference and hence causing civil strife as has happened in some other countries.
Mawingu settlement chairman Peter Kariuki also supported the move taken by Kofi Annan saying it was time that the suspect be forced to face the law..
He said that most of the post poll violence victims continued to suffer in camps and called on the government to speed up the resettlement of their compensation money so that they can continue living a normal life.
Mr Kariuki said some families were going for days without food saying the young children and the elderly were the most affected by hunger.
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