AFRICA/KENYA - Kenyan politicians' names published, suspected by the ICC for the violence of 2008

Nairobi (Agenzia Fides) - “The publication of the politicians' names under investigation by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) is a political earthquake, however for the moment it has not provoked incidents or violence at a social level,” a source from the local Church in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, tells Fides. On Tuesday, 15 December, the Prosecutor of the ICC, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, announced the names of six Kenyan politicians accused of organizing the violence that followed the elections of 2007-2008, which resulted in about 1,100 dead, 3,500 injured and over 600,000 displaced persons.
Among the accused are persons connected to both President Mwai Kibaki and his rival, the current Prime Minister Raila Odinga, allies in a coalition government. Among the accused are Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta (son of the “Father of the Nation” Jomo Kenyatta), former Education Minister William Ruto, former police chief Mohammed Hussein Ali, the head of public services in Kenya, Francis Muthaura, the Minister for Industrialisation Henry Kosgey and radio host Joshua Arap Sang. The accused have pleaded not guilty. Meanwhile President Kibaki, in a speech to the nation, affirmed that, until the charges have been upheld, the suspected Ministers are considered innocent and he will not ask for their resignations.
“The fact that among the suspects there are two contenders for the presidential elections of 2012 will probably redesign the political and electoral picture. It affects the Minister of Finance, Kenyatta, and the Minister of Education, Ruto, who intially were close to Prime Minister Odinga, who recently took an independent position. This situation could benefit Odinga, who sees two of his main rivals in the presidential elections of 2012 if not yet out of the game, thoroughly weakened,” says the Fides source.
After the announcement of the politicians' names under investigation by the ICC, the Interreligious Council of Kenya (of which the Catholic Church is a member) has urged the population to remain calm during a meeting in Mombasa. (LM) (Agenzia Fides 16/12/2010)