Lawyers advise Uhuru to attend ICC trial

By Antony Gitonga

NAIVASHA, KENYA: The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) has called on President Uhuru Kenyatta to honor the ICC summons and attend all sessions as required.

As debate on whether Uhuru should travel to The Hague continued to rage on, LSK warned the president that failure to attend the sessions would have consequences.

The society chairman Eric Mutua called on the head of state to ignore calls from politicians who were advising him to ignore the international court.

He said that unless there was deferral by the UN Security Council on the issue then the president and his deputy William Ruto should continue co-operating with ICC.

“Incase the President fails to appear in the ICC there will be consequences for the country and on Uhuru as a person,” he said.

Mutua was addressing press in a Naivasha hotel during a three day regional conference on supporting access to justice for children and youth in East Africa.

In the last couple of weeks, various leaders have called on Uhuru to ignore the ICC asking for a deferral of the cases.

On the wrangles that have hit the Judicial Service Commission, Mutua supported the move to advertise for the position of chief registrar.

He said that this would end the stalemate that had tainted the image of the judiciary for the last couple of weeks.

He said the Judiciary was losing its credibility by engaging in public fights and time was ripe that the matter was solved amicably.

“We have seen the standoff between the JSC and the immediate former Chief registrar and this has made the independent institution lose its faith to the Kenyan people”.

Mutua noted that though the Judiciary had invited relevant government agencies to investigate allegations of fraud normal operations should continue.

“We should let the Judiciary continue with its mandate and the transformation it began even as we wait for the investigations into the alleged malpractices,” he said.