Attorney General Githu Muigai. Photo/ FILE
NAIROBI, Kenya, May 11- Attorney General Githu Muigai has disowned the application asking the United Nations Security Council to terminate the two cases against Kenyans at the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The Chief Legal Advisor to the government told Capital FM News that Kenya was not a party to the cases before The Hague-based court but that it will continue cooperating with the ICC.
Muigai said: “The official position of the Kenyan government is that it has cooperated fully with the ICC and intends to continue cooperating within the framework of the Rome Statute and International law.”
According to Muigai, the government however hopes that the two cases shall be resolved expeditiously in accordance with the applicable law.
On Thursday Deputy President William Ruto through lawyer Karim Khan also disowned the application saying it neither represented government policy nor his personal wishes.
“His Excellency the Deputy President would like to dissociate himself with the application by Ambassador Macharia Kamau as it does not represent his desire. He was never consulted in the making of the application and not in the presentation,” Khan said.
He said that Ruto who was sworn into office last month was committed to upholding the Constitution which included respect for independent institutions. Khan said that President Uhuru Kenyatta – also indicted by the ICC – had also given his word on honoring international obligations.
Khan reiterated that the United Nations Security Council had no power to terminate proceedings saying that the ICC was an independent court.
He said that it is only the ICC judges could make a decision on the termination of the cases or otherwise as the court, which he said had independent judges fully seized of the matter.
“The application is a distraction from the reality which is that no institution can interfere with the independence of the court. The judges have sworn an oath and they are the only ones who can make a decision on the matter,” he said.
On Friday the ICC termed the bid to have the United Nations Security Council terminate two Kenyan cases before the war crimes court is futile, as the UN body lacks such powers.
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