Post Election Violence in Kenya
Culture of Impunity in Kenya
The post election violence brought about pain, misery and meaningless loss of lives to a once peaceful nation that had enjoyed relative peace and calm. Kenyans never thought that their country would be destroyed in a matter of days and forever remain divided.
The perpetrators of the violence thought that justice would be denied to the many that were affected by their machinations. The Phillip Waki Commission was set up to investigate the post election violence and this marked the long journey to justice.
Justice Waki went around the country collecting evidence and compiling it as directed by the panel of Imminent Persons led by former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan.
The Mysterious Envelope
After Justice Waki and his commission had concluded its investigations, an envelope with the names of the masterminds of the violence was presented to Kofi Annan with the names of 10 individuals who played a role in the violence.
The envelope has since elicited diverse reactions with some politicians dismissing it as a witch-hunt. The Standard Online (October 28, 2009) quoted William Ruto, the Agriculture Minister as saying that the Waki report was “shoddy and missing the point by a very big margin.”
The envelope has even threatened to divide the once formidable opposition party Orange Democratic Party. Some members have claimed that the Prime Minister Raila Odinga is not looking out for their community’s best interest.
Anan Ultimatum
The government was given time by Mr. Annan to workout a road map on how to try and prosecute the alleged perpetrators through a local tribunal, failure to which, the envelop he was presented with by the Waki Commission would be sent to the International Criminal Court prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo for further action.
It has now come to pass and the dreaded envelope, at least for the guilty ones, is in a vault at The Hague ready for international justice if a local tribunal will not be formed soon to deal with those behind the violence.
Mr. James Orengo, the Lands Minister was quoted on the Sunday Nation (July 12, 2009) as saying that, “Mr. Annan did not give any hint that he would surrender the letter to Mr. Ocampo.”
Panic in government
A meeting convened by President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga had to be rescheduled to a later date after sharp divisions emerged in the cabinet over how to handle the issue of a local tribunal.
On their website, Daily Nation (July 20, 2009) reported that this was the second time that the cabinet had postponed making a decision on the formation of a local tribunal to try suspects of the post-election violence.
A clause in a Bill to be presented to parliament to pave way for a local tribunal is dividing the cabinet further, with the President’s party arguing that it should be done away with so as to secure the president’s immunity if he is implicated in the report.
Impunity in Kenyan government
This has been a culture in Kenya for a long time now, with the elite enjoying “special” justice, while the common citizen faces the full force of the law. It remains to be seen whether the cabinet will reach a compromise over the formation of a local tribunal.
The prosecution of the perpetrators will mark a new beginning for Kenya as the culture of impunity will no longer be tolerated. It is time now for Mr. Ocampo to take action on the list he was presented with in order to expedite the justice that has eluded Kenya for the longest time now.
Youth in Mathare demonstrating
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