Kenya should guarentee ICC full cooperation on pest election violence.

ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo

Kenya should fully cooperate with ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo once the list of 20 prominent figures is released by the pre-trial chamber of The Hague.

The government should show a need to account for the about 1,500 lives lost and citizens still languishing at the IDP camps after the 2007/08 post election violence.

This need for justice has been long overdue, up to date the Internal Security ministry and the Attorney General Chambers are yet to bring any suspect to book. Will they be trusted to offer witness security which falls under their dockets? I highly doubt that.

After the government failed to push parliament to establish a special tribunal which could have persecuted the violence perpetrators en-masse, it should then help the ICC in trial of the 20 suspects. The suspects believed to be sitting cabinet ministers; politicians and rich business people who used their tribal, government and wealth connection to fuel the violence should be fully accountable of their crimes at the UN court.

Published on Thursday April 1, 2010 by The Standard, Kenya.