ICC nightmare has robbed Kenya of its Western allies

A pastor prays for President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto in Ruiru, Nairobi, before the ICC cases against them kicked off. The cases are seen to have soured Kenya’s relations with the West.  [PHOTO: FILE]

By FELIX OLICK

NAIROBI, KENYA: The charges facing President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy, William Ruto at the ICC have rallied the African Union (AU) and the East in solidarity but soured the relationship between Kenya and the West.

The duo’s first year in office has been marked by major diplomatic storms that threatened the rapport between Kenya and some of its biggest trading allies in the West.

Although there is no evidence to suggest that the action by Brussels to deny the head of presidential security - Edward Mbugua - a European Union visa to travel to Brussels for a summit was linked to the ICC in anyway, it highlighted the uneasy relations between the country and the union.

It took a threat by Uhuru to cancel the trip and a show of solidarity by the leaders of Uganda, Rwanda and Ethiopia for Brussels to rethink its decision. Recently, the ICC declined the defence application to terminate the case against President Kenyatta, the current chair of the East African Community, and instead judges set the commencement date for the trial in October.

Kenyan officials insist there is no policy to turn away from the traditional Western allies.

But the President has continued to enjoy a cordial relationship with Russia and China and at one time bagged goodies including over Sh420 billion for infrastructure on his trip to China.

Critics have insisted that the country’s foreign policy during Jubilee coalition’s one year in office has been fashioned by the crimes against humanity charges facing the two leaders at the Hague-based court, but the Government has vehemently denied the claims.

ABSTAINED FROM VOTING

“Our relationship is good, it’s complex, it’s growing,” Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohammed told journalists when asked about the relationship between Kenya and the West. The diplomatic spat between Kenya and the superpowers began after the United Nations Security Council rejected a demand by the AU to suspend ICC cases against the two leaders.

The resolution got only seven votes, two below the number needed to pass it in the 15-member body.

Seven countries voted in favour of deferral of the cases. None opposed but eight abstained from the vote including US, Britain and France.

US envoy to the UN, Samantha Power, had no regrets and maintained Kenya’s concerns are best addressed within the ICC, arguing that the victims of the post-election violence were also entitled to justice.

“Because of our respect for Kenya and AU we have decided to abstain,” she noted after the historic vote.

But in a sharp reaction, the Foreign Affairs ministry accused the Western states within the council of “reckless abdication of global leadership” that it said, had “humiliated the continent and its leadership”.

“We can now say we have genuine, legitimate and consistent friends,” Ruto said, congratulating the countries that voted for the deferral like China.

AU’S UNRELENTING SUPPORT

The deferral bid was plotted during an extraordinary summit of the AU during which the continental organisation resolved that Uhuru should not show up for trial before the deferral request was addressed.

African leaders, including Uhuru, launched a scathing attack on the global court and Western powers saying they had teamed up to humiliate African leaders.

“It is the fact that this court (ICC) performs on the cue of European and American governments against the sovereignty of African States and peoples - that should outrage us,” said Uhuru in his speech “People have termed this situation “race-hunting”. I find great difficulty adjudging them wrong.”

In his second trip to Africa, US President Barack Obama chose to skip his Kenyan fatherland because of the ICC cases against the two leaders. But while Kenya-Western relations have been souring, the AU’s unrelenting support for Kenyan leaders has endeared the country with the continental organisation.