No one will be shielded from ICC, says Saitoti

By Beauttah Omanga

The Government will not shield any Cabinet Minister or top Government official once indicted by the International Criminal Court, Internal Security Minister George Saitoti has said.

The minister also said the Government would help the ICC trace ODM Pentagon minutes if requested.

"As at now we have not been asked to help ICC get minutes of the (ODM) Pentagon. The moment we are requested, we would try to trace them. If they are there we would give them and if not we would tell them as much," said the minister.

Prof Saitoti said the Government made a commitment to support the ICC on all areas related to the Kenyan case before The Hague until its logical conclusion.

"We have a deal with the ICC and we are not intending to backtrack on anything, including assisting them get whoever they will want. But that is a long process which we should not speculate over as a Government," he added.

Answering MPs’ questions on the level of commitment given the Government failed to act on arrest warrants issued against Sudan’s President Al Bashir when he visited the country two months ago, Saitoti said the Government has promised to co-operate, "and we will co-operate".

Garsen MP Danson Mungatana had sought a ministerial statement on fears the Government would not handover all security minutes during the violence as sought by the International Criminal Court. "We will give some minutes to the ICC, but only those that will not compromise the country’s security. The ICC Act gives all countries a leeway to decide which minutes to give out," said Saitoti.

He said a document that circulated in the country originating from the United Nations where a certain community was allegedly implicated had not formally been handed over to the ICC. "I was given a document by an MP and upon checking with the UN we discovered indeed it was authentic but had not been handed over to the ICC. It is not part of the documents with the ICC at the moment."

Yesterday, Mungatana demanded a clarification from the minister on the rumours that prominent Kenyans, among them, Cabinet ministers, were likely to be indicted.

Dr Bonny Khalwale (IKolomani) said some MPs had even claimed ODM Pentagon minutes were crucial in the investigations and wanted the minister to explain if the ICC had sought the said minutes.