Mutunga's court could decide the fate of Uhuru and Ruto Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta (left) and Eldoret North MP William Ruto at the launch of The National Alliance party last month, which Mr Kenyatta intends to use to run for the presidency. The two have said they will run despite the cases facing them. Photo/FILE By KIPCHUMBA SOME ksome@ke.nationmedia.com Posted Saturday, June 2 2012 at 22:30 Chief Justice Willy Mutunga's Supreme Court looms large as the last and most formidable obstacle in the path of Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Eldoret North MP William Ruto's presidential aspirations following the rejection of their final appeal in The Hague last week. Much attention in the debate on whether the two, who face crimes against humanity charges at the International Criminal Court (ICC), can run in the next General Election has focused on events in the international arena. Read (Ruto denies political alliance with Uhuru) But the pair's biggest challenge will be to convince Kenya's reforming judiciary that they – and many other politicians with integrity questions hanging over their heads – can contest seats in the light of the high bar set by the Constitution. And it is a fight that will greatly test the mettle of the revamped judiciary and in particular that of Dr Mutunga who has already warned politicians of questionable integrity against offering themselves for leadership positions. Last week the four suspects, Mr Kenyatta, Mr Ruto, former head of public service Francis Muthaura and radio journalist Joshua arap Sang, lost their appeal challenging the jurisdiction of the ICC to hear their cases. The decision paves the way for the start of their trials because they have now exhausted all avenues of stopping their cases from proceeding. The last remaining option is for the government to obtain a deferral at the United Nations Security Council or for the government to set up a local tribunal that would satisfy the ICC that it is capable of serving justice, forcing it to suspend trial at The Hague. The suspects are set to attend a status conference slated for June 11 and 12 in which, among other things, the date for the start of their trials will be discussed and rules of engagement set. Related Stories
Despite the millstones around their necks, Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto have continued laying elaborate campaign plans in their bid to succeed President Kibaki. The ICC has stated that it has no jurisdiction to determine whether the two suspects can vie for the presidency, therefore leaving the matter to local courts. Given a recent surge in public-interest litigation driven by newfound belief in the judiciary, it is inevitable interested groups will seek to have the two barred from running. One such case is already under way. Mr Patrick Njuguna, Mr Agostinho Neto, Mr Charles Omanga, the Kenya Youth Parliament, and Kenya Youth League went to court earlier this year seeking to bar the two from running for president. It is envisaged that many more similar cases will be filed by other interested groups and that the matter might end up in the highest court in the land, the Supreme Court, where Dr Mutunga sits as its president. "This is an obviously interesting issue for many interested groups," said international law expert Dr Kithure Kindiki. "It will definitely be fought very passionately and very hard every inch of the way, up to the highest court." All eyes now will focus on Dr Mutunga who will be mandated to set up the benches that will hear the case at different stages as it winds up the legal system, perhaps up to the very top where he will sit with six other colleagues to make the historic ruling. In March, Dr Mutunga issued a warning that must have rung alarm bells in the political arena by declaring that he will not hesitate to use Chapter Six of the Constitution on Leadership and Integrity to prevent politicians of questionable integrity from seeking elective office in the General Election. "Being Kenyan is a full-time commitment. This country needs citizens who are Kenyans all the time; not those who are vernacular Kenyans most of the time. Just in case you forgot, Chapter Six is partly intended to eliminate this breed," the CJ said. The Supreme Court judges are Dr Mutunga, his deputy Lady Justice Nancy Baraza who is currently suspended, Justice Philip Tunoi, Justice Jackton Boma Ojwang', Justice Mohamed Ibrahim, Justice Smokin Wanjala and Lady Justice Njoki Ndung'u. Ms Baraza's suspension, however, places the court in a tricky position should a matter be brought before it urgently due to the even number of judges. They ought to be an odd number to prevent the possibility of a tie when delivering a ruling. In the US, the Supreme Court has played a crucial role in shaping national values through its judgment on weighty national issues such as the legality of abortion and ending of racial segregation in public schools. There, the Supreme Court judges are closely scrutinised for their professional and personal opinions on key issues of the day and are consequently categorised conservatives or liberals. "It might be too premature to start categorising our judges in this fashion since we have little information about their stand on several issues," said Dr Kindiki. Chapter Six of the Constitution requires, among other standards, that State officers must not have behaved in a manner, "demeaning the office the officer holds" and must bring "honour to the nation and dignity to the office" they hold. Clause 35 of the proposed Leadership and Integrity Bill states: "A person seeking to be appointed or elected as a State officer may not be eligible for appointment or to stand for election to such office if that person has, as a State officer, contravened the Leadership and Integrity Code under this Act or, while serving as a public officer, has contravened a Code of Ethics and Integrity applicable to that officer". Although still undergoing drafting the Bill, as it is, cannot bar anyone who is seeking the presidency from running, but only those who have been convicted. The Leadership and Integrity Bill also empowers the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission to bar those seeking to be elected or appointed to office if they have contravened the law. "These bodies (including the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission) will be required to make their decisions regarding the matter even before it goes to court and it is important to see how they will decide," said lawyer George Kegoro. Clause 43(1) of the Bill reads: "The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission and the responsible commission may, on application by any person, issue a certificate to that person or any other interested person or institution, confirming that a particular State officer is compliant or not compliant with some or all of the provisions of Chapter Six of the Constitution or this Act." While saying that there is little in law that bars the two from running because of a clause in the Constitution which requires that a suspect should have exhausted all options of appeal to be barred from seeking office, Dr Kindiki said that the suspects run the risk of being impeached immediately after being sworn into office. "The Constitution demands that the Senate start impeachment proceedings against the President and his deputy if there are reasonable grounds to believe that they have committed a crime under national and international law. And if the Senate refuses to do so, then any one can petition the courts to do so," he explained. However, Mr Kegoro said that such a move might take a while until a ruling is made by the ICC and all appeals exhausted. "I don't think the decision will be made in such a short time, going by past examples of how long it has taken the court to deliver a judgment," he said. Annan warns of 'all-out' sectarian war in SyriaPosted Saturday, June 2 2012 at 18:15 International peace envoy Kofi Annan warned Saturday of an all-out sectarian war in Syria, holding President Bashar al-Assad as the first responsible to act to end the conflict. "The spectre of an all-out war with a worrying sectarian dimension grows by the day," he told a ministerial meeting on Syria in Doha. "The situation is complex and it takes everyone involved in the conflict to act responsibly if the violence is to stop. But the first responsibility lies in the Syrian government and President Assad," he said. He said he expressed to Assad during his visit to Damascus earlier this week his "deep concerns" and that the crisis is "at a tipping point." Up to 300 unarmed UN observers have deployed in Syria since a putative ceasefire brokered by Annan went into effect in April as part of his six-point peace plan, which also stipulated that the army must pull out of towns and cities. "I told Assad he must act now to implement all points of the plan, and must make bold and visible steps immediately to radically change his military posture and honour commitment to withdraw heavy weapons and cease all violence," Annan said. He also said he told Assad to release detainees, open up the country to international humanitarian aid and allow people to express their opinion freely as "this is essential to demonstrate his seriousness to the Syrian people and the international community." Monitors say more than 13,400 people have been killed across Syria since an anti-regime uprising erupted in March 2011, including nearly 2,300 since the ceasefire technically went into effect on April 12. Most of Syria's 22-million population are Sunni Muslims, while other minorities include 10 percent Christians and 12 percent Alawites -- an off-shoot Shiite community to which Assad belongs. Related Content
Sudan's army said it killed 45 rebels who were looting in eastern Darfur on Saturday but the insurgents told a different story, saying they had seized an army compound. A large force from the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) attacked Fataha, a trade crossroads in the eastern part of North Darfur state, Sawarmi Khaled Saad, the Sudanese army spokesman, told AFP. "They looted the market and our troops responded. We killed 45 and destroyed 16 JEM vehicles," he said, adding some soldiers were wounded. "After that, they withdrew to the west and we are still following them." Such casualty claims are impossible to verify from a region where access is restricted. Earlier Saturday, JEM spokesman Gibril Adam Bilal told AFP the rebels had seized an army compound east of the state capital El Fasher. "Our forces are still inside the SAF compound," he said, adding JEM killed an unknown number of soldiers and took 16 of their vehicles. The state governor, Osman Kibir, said on state television that rebels "are looting the shops, attacked civilians and took some food and fuel" from Fataha. "They clashed with a small number of troops from SAF," the Sudanese Armed Forces, he said, adding the number of casualties had not yet been determined. In April, the head of the African Union-United Nations peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID) expressed concern that the region's rebels were exploiting tensions between Sudan and South Sudan along their disputed frontier. JEM and other Darfuri rebel factions belong to a "Revolutionary Front" which aims to topple the regime in Khartoum, which they regard as unrepresentative of the country's political, ethnic and religious diversity. Khartoum alleges that South Sudan backs JEM and other rebels, a charge the Southern government denies and in turn accuses Sudan of supporting insurgents south of the border. The UN estimates that at least 300,000 people have died as a result of the Darfur conflict, which began in 2003 when JEM and other rebels from non-Arab tribes in Sudan's far west rose up against the Khartoum regime. In response, the government unleashed state-backed Janjaweed militia in a conflict that shocked the world and led to allegations of genocide. Since then, much of the violence in the vast region has degenerated into banditry. The Sudanese government puts the death toll at 10,000. Almost two million people are still displaced. Egypt's Mubarak sentenced to life in prison An image grab taken from Egyptian state TV shows ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak sitting inside a cage in a courtroom during his verdict hearing in Cairo on June 2, 2012. Mubarak was sentenced to life in prison for his involvement in the murder of protesters during the uprising that ousted him last year. AFP Posted Saturday, June 2 2012 at 15:30 Egypt's former president Hosni Mubarak and his security chief were given life in prison Saturday over the deaths of protesters in 2011, but the acquittal of six police chiefs sparked calls for mass protest. Judge Ahmed Refaat sentenced the 84-year-old former leader and his interior minister Habib al-Adly to life for their role in the deaths of protesters during the revolt that ousted them, but acquitted the six security commanders on the same charges. A senior lawyer for Mubarak's defence team told AFP the strongman, who was taken to a Cairo prison after the hearing, will appeal the sentence. But once at Tora prison on Cairo's outskirts, a tearful Mubarak refused to leave the aircraft, and security officials said he "suffered from a surprise health crisis" before they finally convinced him to go in. The verdict prompted outrage both inside and outside the courtroom. "Void, void" and "The people want the judiciary purged" could be heard, as furious lawyers told AFP they feared Mubarak would be found innocent on appeal. The powerful Muslim Brotherhood told AFP it had called for mass protests nationwide, while other groups including the pro-democracy April 6 movement announced they would take to the streets in protest. Rights groups slammed the verdict as failing to deliver full justice. Mubarak's sentence "is a significant step towards combating long-standing impunity in Egypt" but the security chiefs' acquittal "leaves many still waiting for full justice," Amnesty International said in a statement. "Many see the acquittal of all the senior security officials as a sign that those responsible for human rights violations can still escape justice," it said. "The verdict fails to deliver justice, it fails to deter police from future abuse and it comes against the backdrop of acquittals in police trials," Heba Morayef, Cairo-based researcher for Human Rights Watch, told AFP. Corruption charges against Mubarak's sons, Alaa and Gamal, were dropped because of the expiry of a statute of limitations, and the former president was acquitted in one of the graft cases. "We will appeal. The ruling is full of legal flaws from every angle," Yasser Bahr, a senior member of Mubarak's defence team, told AFP. Asked if Mubarak was likely to win the appeal, Bahr said: "We will win, one million percent." Mubarak, in sunglasses and wearing a beige track-suit, had his arms folded and showed no emotion inside the caged dock as Chief Judge Ahmed Refaat read the verdict. Alaa and Gamal, looking tired with dark circles under their eyes, appeared close to tears on hearing the verdict. "It's vindicating to Egyptians to see Mubarak and his interior minister sentenced to life, but the verdict raises more questions than answers," said Hossam Bahgat, the director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, who was outside the court with members of the victims' families. "The court appears to have found no evidence that the killings were committed by policemen. It seems the court convicted Mubarak and Adly for failing to prevent the killings," Bahgat told AFP. "It's 100 percent certain that this will go to appeal and the court is very likely to order a retrial," said Bahgat, a respected activist and lawyer. In delivering the ruling, Judge Refaat painted a grim picture of life under Mubarak, listing hardship after hardship suffered during his three-decade rule. He said some "went hungry" and spoke of conditions in the "rotting slums." Refaat said the protesters who joined in the 2011 uprising in Cairo's Tahrir Square were "peaceful" and wanted only "justice, freedom and democracy." Clashes erupted outside the courtroom after the sentencing, with police resorting to stun grenades to control angry crowds. Mubarak, the only autocrat toppled in the Arab Spring to be tried in person, Adly and the six others had faced charges over their involvement in ordering the deaths of some of the estimated 850 people killed in the uprising. Egypt has been ruled by the military since Mubarak was forced to resign on February 11 last year after 18 days of protests nationwide. Mubarak was held at a hospital in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh following his arrest last year, before the military appeared to bow to protester demands that he and former regime officials face trial. Egypt's military insists that the prosecution's investigations and the charges eventually filed were independent judicial decisions. Critics say the investigation was hasty and sloppy, resulting in a trial based on patchwork evidence that may see Mubarak acquitted. The ex-president was brought to Cairo for the trial, which began on August 3, and he has been held there since. During the trial, Mubarak was wheeled into the lecture hall that serves as a courtroom on a stretcher. He reportedly has a heart condition, but the health ministry has denied his lawyer's assertion that he has cancer. Saturday's verdict comes just two weeks before a presidential election run-off that will pit Mubarak's former premier Ahmed Shafiq against the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohammed Mursi in a highly polarised race. It is the first openly contested presidential election in any of the Arab countries swept by protests and uprisings challenging decades of autocratic rule. |
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