By Tony Gachoka
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in Kenya for barely a day yet her visit has set the local political scene ablaze. Tongues have been set wagging by her comments as much as by her behind-the-scenes interventions and statements.
Ms Clinton was emphatic in underlying a precise American position on the International Criminal Court (ICC) trials of prominent Kenyans as well as the conduct of the General Election.
It would appear the United States has already played the role of prosecutor, judge and jury.
It has already made up its mind that it is in the best interest of Kenya for the four gentlemen to be found guilty and incarcerated; regardless of whether they are actually guilty or innocent of the crimes they are accused of.
It is ironic that the United States, which is not a party to the Rome Statute on the International Criminal Court, but which has steadfastly refused to have its activities or those of its allies subjected to the scrutiny of The Hague based court, is such an ardent supporter of the process.
It is surprising that the American government has taken such a stark position on the ICC case against four Kenyans. It is whispered along the corridors of power that the US has decided on a particular politician as its preferred candidate for president.
With so many millions of dollars poured into determining the outcome of the 2013 General Election, it is hardly surprising that America is backing a process that will seemingly eliminate two presidential aspirants, regardless of whether they are guilty.
How can Clinton, a lawyer, view the ICC case against prominent Kenyans politicians as being independent and objective when it is based on two contrasting reports of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights? Can such a biased individual render an objective and untainted opinion on the events around post-election violence?
Perhaps the United States is not concerned about the obvious deficiencies in the ICC case.
Perhaps the Obama Administration has decided to continue the age-old American doctrine of creating puppet governments to maintain the country’s unfettered access to cheap raw materials for her vast industrial base. It certainly cannot be that the world’s sole super power is unaware of the true circumstances of the Kenya cases.
America must end its policy of ‘do as I say, not as I do’. It is the height of the hypocrisy for the US to urge Kenya to blindly cooperate with the ICC process when it itself has a standing resolution of the Senate (which under the United States Constitution is the body that declares war) stating that any country which cooperates with the ICC in arresting a US citizen will face immediate military action.
