In 2011, a research done by Ipsos Synovate found that 61 percent of Kenyans supported the ICC process/FILE
Speaking during the International Criminal Justice Day and the 11th anniversary of the ICC, Outreach Coordinator Maria Kamara said the court will commission its own survey to uncover issues that have led to the reduced support.
“We would be concerned because the ICC is not here because of itself but it is here for Kenyans to bring justice to the affected communities. And if polls have been carried out that seem to suggest that there is declining support for this process, we have to evaluate and ask several questions,” Kamara explained.
In 2011, a research done by Ipsos Synovate found that 61 percent of Kenyans supported the ICC process.
Last year, support for the court was above 50 percent according to a poll done by the same research company.
On July 10, this year another Ipsos Synovate poll showed that only 39 percent of Kenyans support the ICC process.
According to Kamara, it is in the interest of the ICC to dig deeper to find out why support for the court has been dwindling with progression of cases against President Uhuru Kenyatta, his deputy William Ruto and former radio presenter Joshua arap Sang.
She said the outreach is planning to do its own research to ask further questions that will help the court to understand where it has failed and also check if the decline is due to the Kenyan political arena.
“What we intend to do in the coming weeks and months is to carry out our own independent survey bearing in mind the key questions we want to ask people to be able to give us an idea of where the declining confidence is coming from,” she explained.
Victims who spoke to Capital FM News said they were disgruntled that the ICC process took longer than expected.
“This violence was in 2008 and now (we) are in 2013. We know the ICC has these cases, but when will they end, will we wait for the entire of our lives,” a victim wondered.
When the ICC Prosecutor visited Kenya in October 2012, victims in Eldoret and Nakuru expressed their discontent in the way the prosecution was handling the Kenyan cases.
They tore into the investigation process, recruitment of witnesses and accused the court of being biased in its decision on the Kenyan suspects.
See: https://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/2012/10/pev-victims-dont-trust-icc-witnesses/
In 2010, former Prosecutor Moreno Ocampo released a list of six top Kenyans who he said bore the highest responsibility of 2008 violence. They included Kenyatta, former Head of Civil Service Francis Muthaura and one time Commissioner of Police Hussein Ali. Others are Ruto, former Industrialisation Minister Henry Kosgey and Sang.
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