David Ochami, Mutinda Mwanzia and Peter Opiyo
Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan is disappointed by parliament’s failure to establish a special tribunal to try suspects of the post-election violence.
"I am disappointed that the Constitution of Kenya Amendment Bill 2009, which would have paved the way for the establishment of a Special Tribunal in Kenya, was defeated in Parliament yesterday (Thursday)," said Annan.
Annan said the Waki report was clear in its recommendations, which the Government had accepted.
"The Panel will now review the actions it should take in line with the spirit, letter and intent of that report...," said Annan indicating readiness and willingness to deliver names and evidence to ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo.
Annan said the vote was a "set back" and a "blow" to the fight on impunity in Kenya. The Waki Report also recommended police and institutional reform besides the establishment of the tribunal.
"This development is a major setback to the implementation of the recommendations of the Waki Report. I believe it is also a blow to efforts aimed at ending the culture of impunity in Kenya, which is a central objective of the Kenya National Dialogue and Reconciliation process," said he noted.
He said in a statement sent through his spokesman in Nairobi Nasser Ega-Musa that Kenya’s future is bleak as long the grand coalition he helped create remains weak and quarrelsome, disabling it from implementing Agenda Item Number 4.
And speaking from his offices in Nairobi German Ambassador Walter Lindner blamed the political class in the country for the failure to establish a local tribunal to try post election violence perpetrators.
"It sends a message that the country cannot solve its problems despite being given a chance to establish a homegrown mechanism to try those implicated,"said Lindner.
Lindner said calls for the resignation of President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga by Cabinet Minister Mutula Kilonzo following the flopped Bill were unacceptable.
" Some discipline in the Cabinet is necessary to ensure members read from the same script,"said Lindner.
Mutula had called for the resignation of the two principles saying they had failed to offer leadership leading to the rejecting of the Bill in Parliament on Thursday.
The US has urged the government to initiate fresh consultations over the proposed tribunal and re-introduce the two Bills establishing the local court after addressing the concerns raised by MPs that led to the waterloo of the Bills on Thursday.
Through its envoy, Michael Rannerberger, the US rooted for the reintroduction of the Constitution of Kenya (Ammendment) Bill, 2009 and the Special Tribunal for Kenya Bill.
" The defeat of the constitutional amendment Bill to provide for special tribunal was a wake-up call for the Kenyan people. We urge that the coalition government, MPs and civil society engage in dialogue to address concerns about the legislation with a view to
reconsidering the constitutional (amendment) Bill," said Rannerberger.
Addressing MPs at the sensitization workshop for the new Standing Orders, at Safari Park Hotel, Nairobi, the ambassador said establishing a local tribunal would be a move towards ending the culture of impunity.