Kalonzo team meets UN chief

By Martin Mutua

Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka continued with his shuttle diplomacy in the US undeterred by International Criminal Court summons (ICC) for the Ocampo Six.

On Wednesday, Kalonzo led a Kenyan delegation for a meeting United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Kenya’s quest for deferral of post-election violence cases at ICC.

The VP delivered President Kibaki’s letter to the UN boss and urged him to support efforts to seek deferral of cases at ICC.

The meeting, according to the Vice-President’s Press Service, was held at UN headquarters in New York where Kalonzo told Mr Ban that Kenya was keen to boost national healing, reconciliation and stability.

The VP is said to have told the UN boss that Kenya was determined to have the post-election violence suspects tried locally following promulgation of the new Constitution that would establish strong independent institutions.

Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the UN headquarters in New York, Wednesday. [PHOTO: VPPS]

"Whether through deferral by the UN Security Council or by directly applying to the ICC under article 19 of the Rome Statute, we are eager to close that chapter in our recent history at home, by obtaining justice for the victims and healing the nation," he added.

The UN boss is said to have told the VP and his delegation that he appreciated the complexity of carrying out prosecutions and also securing peace and national stability at the same time.

Biggest meeting

He urged Kenyans to move fast and put in place a local judicial process to play the primary jurisdiction role since ICC was a complimentary court to a national process.

He announced that the UN will hold its biggest meeting ever in Nairobi next month bringing together all UN agencies worldwide.

At the same time, Ban said he was set to announce the appointment of a woman to head the UN headquarters in Nairobi. "This is the first time all heads of UN agencies are having one meeting in one location to plan co-ordination so as to deliver services as one United Nations entity. I am pleased also to able to appoint a woman who will be announced soon to assume a senior position within the United Nations," he said.

Kalonzo and the delegation comprising of Agriculture Minister Sally Kosgei, Higher Education Minister Helen Sambili and Nairobi Metropolitan Minister Njeru Githae held talks on the deferral quest, the crisis in Somalia and a post-referendum assessment of South Sudan with United States UN envoy Susan Rice as well as the Permanent Representative to the UN of France and United Kingdom.