Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

top

Kenya

Scorecard cites lack of devotion to ICC

NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 30 – A scorecard of the Grand Coalition Government by an international research firm has warned that the work of the International Criminal Court is receiving little or divided assistance from the government.

The latest report by South Consulting research firm indicates that there is no common position among the main parties on the issue of the ICC intervention.

“Impunity is re-organising through mobilisation of ethnic constituencies for support against or in favour of the ICC intervention,” says the report adding that: “There are senior leaders who would prefer to terminate or delay it.”

“Significant also is that there is an absence of leadership and ownership of the ICC intervention as a means of ending impunity; there is no local political ownership of this issue given its potential to terminate political careers.”

The ICC is probing the deadly 2007/2008 post election violence that led to over 1,500 deaths and displacement of more than 600,000 other Kenyans. ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo has indicated that he will be filing two cases involving about six individuals by the end of the year.

Mr Ocampo is expected in the country later this week to join the Panel of Eminent African Personalities that includes former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan for a conference to evaluate the performance of Grand Coalition Government where the issue of the ICC investigations is expected to feature. The latest scorecard is also expected to be debated and approved by the panel.

“The intervention of the ICC is important in one respect. It will impact on Kenya’s political culture of tolerating and celebrating impunity especially when senior and influential politicians are involved,” the research firms said in the report.

The political machinations have been blamed for pushing aside the plight of the Internally Displaced Persons. The report says: “Leaders appear to pay scant attention to the problem of IDPs many of who have remained without secure livelihood for more than two years.”

The report further called for urgency in the establishment of a permanent electoral commission to prepare the country for the 2012 General Elections now two years away.

In its report, South Consulting says institutional and electoral reforms must be undertaken and completed with urgency to prepare for the first elections under the new Constitution. The reforms it says must demonstrate that there is a new culture of doing things – one of accountability to the public.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

“The Interim Independent Electoral Commission must also contend with the fact that the investment required to have a free and fair election in the next General Election is huge,” says the report.

“Electoral rules must be known early, accepted early and institutionalised before the next General Election.”

The firm notes that the number of spoilt votes in the August constitution referendum is clear evidence of the need to undertake comprehensive voter education ahead of the polls.

It also adds that other institutional reforms in the police and judiciary must be completed with urgency in preparation of the next general election.

The National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) has been given a thumbs up for “filling an important gap in the understanding and countering some of the factors that cause violence during elections.”

The Commission the report notes, successfully stigmatised hate speech during the referendum by ensuring arrest of senior politicians and monitoring speeches during the campaigns.

“These measures should provide lessons to guide approaches to prevent violence in the future. It is important that the Commission does not relent on monitoring speeches by senior politicians after the referendum; monitoring hate speech should be continuous,” it states.

About The Author

Comments
Advertisement

More on Capital News