25 September - 1 Octobre 2015

Media Monitoring Report for Kenya

Posted on October 1, 2015

Compiled by Pierre-Philippe Turnbull

1. Ruto and the ICC

African Union to push for deferral of Ruto ICC case through UN General Assembly (Daily Nation, independent Kenyan-based paper, September 28 2015)

African Union chairman Robert Mugabe is on Monday expected to push for the inclusion of the drive to defer the case facing Deputy President William Ruto at the International Criminal Court on the agenda of the United Nations General Assembly.
Furthermore, the committee met in New York to discuss and seek the way forward on relations with the ICC, which is accused of targeting leaders from the continent.
The committee agreed to speed up the establishment of the African Court of Justice on Human and Peoples’ Rights to try the cases that are at The Hague.
The recent tension between Kenya (and the AU) and the ICC has been triggered by the Trial Chamber judges’ ruling four weeks ago that allowed Ms Bensouda to use recanted testimonies from hostile witnesses under Rule 68.

Kenya seeks UN Security Council support to drop Ruto's ICC case (Daily Nation, independent Kenyan-based paper, September 30 2015)

Kenya will try to rally support at the UN in its bid to have the case against Deputy President William Ruto at the International Criminal Court dropped.
Multiple sources within the country’s diplomatic mission at the United Nations said that deferring the case had been ruled out by the UN Security Council.
Kenya’s permanent representative to the UN, Mr Macharia Kamau, confirmed that the African Union had submitted to the Security Council its position regarding the case.

Kenya changes tact for Ruto, Bashir deferment cases (Kenyan Broadcasting Corporation - KBC, State-Owned Radio Station, September 28 2015)

Kenya has mobilized the continent to push for the deferment of the ICC case against DP William Ruto and Sudan President Omar al Bashir.
Kenya will be recommending the postponement of the cases as well as present six other changes to the statute during the assembly of state parties meeting in November.

Kenya pushes its agenda for ICC reforms at UN Summit (Kenyan Broadcasting Corporation - KBC, State-Owned Radio Station, September 25 2015)

Kenya will be pushing its agenda for reforms at the International Criminal Court (ICC) during the ongoing UN General Assembly in New York.
For instance, UN Permanent representative to the Kenyan mission ambassador Macharia Kamau, singled out the issue of the court applying article 68 of the Rome Statute in the case facing Deputy President William Ruto, saying it would be prejudicial to his case to allow the use of recanted evidence in the case contrary to an agreement.
The ICC operations at The Hague based court remain a thorny subject in Africa with many countries in the continent unhappy with the criminal justice system.

MP Samuel Chepkong'a wants Parliament to discuss Waki Commission report (Daily Nation, independent Kenyan-based paper, September 30 2015)

A lawmaker has filed a motion that seeks to get the National Assembly to discuss the Waki Commission report on post-election violence.
The Waki Commission produced a 529-page report and presented it to President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga on October 15, 2008.
He claimed from there that he would go to jail with a freed conscience, following these revelations.
The Waki Report has gained recent media attention after allegation of irregularities following the report.

ICC investigator to meet Moses Kuria over witness fixing claims (Daily Nation, independent Kenyan-based paper, October 1 2015)

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is seeking to question Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria over his recent public remarks regarding alleged procurement of witnesses.
The meeting will take place October 9
According to the ICC, the meeting would be to “ascertain the accuracy of the statements attributed to you in the media during a recorded interview, should you be so willing.”

Court bars Kura from linking Martha Karua to ICC fixing (Daily Nation, independent Kenyan-based paper, October 1 2015)

Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria has been gagged from linking former Justice Minister Martha Karua with a plot to fix Deputy President William Ruto at the International Criminal Court.
Ms Karua, who is the Narc-Kenya leader, wanted Mr Kuria stopped from making further statements linking her to any scheme to fix Mr Ruto.
According to Ms Karua, the statements issued by Mr Kuria had injured her reputation by implying that she was not a diligent and trustworthy public servant.

MPs want contents of Waki report probedICC (Kenyan Broadcasting Corporation - KBC, State-Owned Radio Station, September 21 2015)

The National Assembly wants the content of the infamous Waki envelope unsealed.
Gatundu South legislator Moses kuria kicked off the latest storm with regards to the report when he claimed he colluded with CORD leader Raila Odinga, former ODM secretary general Prof Anyang Nyongo and Narc Kenya leader Martha karua to coach witnesses on how to fix deputy president William Ruto.
Since then, a letter has been written to the UN Security Council imploring upon them to resist attempts to defer the cases.
If constituted the select committee is expected to table a report in parliament within 90 days.

Montreal Institute for Genocide and
Human Rights Studies