Kenya’s open hostility and contempt of ICC in the name of God and sovereignty

The world must be in awe at Kenya’s open hostility to and contempt of the International Criminal Court!

Initially, the ‘ICC fixing’ saga was a comedy, so to speak; I mean it is funny how one day you  loudly declare “don’t be vague, go to Hague”, then it turns out you are the one who is charged at  the Hague, then you come to ‘realize’ that you were ‘fixed’.

A certain Moses Kuria rattles a storm by confessing publicly that there was in fact a fixing and he is a culprit. Then your ‘supporters’ cum new-friends-of-the-self-proclaimed fixer wage a war rattling the country, and rattling ICC in the name of God. Did you realize the rapidity of changes from scenario to another? I fear for our country. Let me explain my anger and fear.

First, ICC is supposed to be a private affair to the accused and public only for the victims and as an operation of the international legal system. Unfortunately the accused have ‘publicized’ their defence, seeking public sympathy and political insulation from the trial.

Second, state and public officers coalesced around Moses Kuria for the purpose of defending one accused. Bear in mind that he publicly admitted to have committed a criminal offence.

These two facts alone are dangerous for the country. Put aside the fact that the actions are selfish and immoral, they are (1) creating and perpetuating a culture of lawlessness, and (2) putting the

ICC into jeopardy. Perhaps the actions are calculated to this end, but that is beside the point.

Recently the Government responded to the Supreme Court contemptuously on teachers’ pay (the can’t pay, won’t pay stance). Now certain Members of Parliament are in flagrant contempt of the International Criminal Court in the name of prayers and sovereignty. Court cases are being taken away from court adjudication and being decided in the political arena. This is a case of state officers strong-arming courts and rendering courts moot.

The end result? Disrespect and disregard for law, order and courts in the name of prayers for the accused; lawlessness in the name of God & sovereignty.

Legal remedies are available to someone who disagrees with a court of law; but this combative approach against the ICC is open hostility, a sign of unwillingness to cooperate, and an attempt to jeopardize the court. The ICC is in a crisis; it cannot negotiate with Kenyan politicians; that’s not how the law works, but can it really cite all of them for contempt? 

Courts are not made to engage in such combat. Kenya has made bad precedent which risks rendering the court moot; jeopardizing  a  legal  system  built  by  the  community  of  nations,  and  creating  a  culture  of lawlessness in our country.

 

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