Ruto beats a retreat, rejects Hague trials

• Minister who backed ICC route now roots for truth, justice and reconcilliation team

Agriculture minister William Ruto was at it again on Wednesday. Tired of pushing for The Hague, he has now turned full circle and wants post-election violence cases handled by a Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission.

In doing this, he seems to be joining the chorus started by his Cabinet colleagues, Mr William ole Ntimama and Mr Najib Balala during Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting.

Mr Ruto was addressing mourners at Kiptere in Kericho District, during the burial of Mr Isaiah Mutai, a businessman.

Tried at the Hague
Mr Ruto has in the past argued strongly for sponsors of the violence that killed 1,133 to be tried by the International Criminal Court at The Hague, instead of having them dealt with locally.

While opposing the local trials, Mr Ruto had said that these would re-ignite ethnic clashes.

He has always added the rider that those who he accuses of rigging the 2007 presidential election should be made to account first before punishing those who were protesting against the outcome.

Though he voted for a local tribunal together with other Cabinet ministers in Parliament, Mr Ruto has publicly opposed setting up such a tribunal.

Yesterday, he led five other MPs from the Rift Valley in demanding that a truth, justice and reconciliation commission be set to address the issue.

His change of mind came barely a week after chief mediator Kofi Annan handed over the envelope with the list of key suspects to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Mr Luis Moreno-Ocampo.

On Tuesday, a Cabinet meeting seeking to establish a local tribunal rejected the draft Independent Tribunal Bill.

The position taken by MPs is also likely to drive a wedge within ODM, whose leader Raila Odinga has been pushing for a local tribunal against the wishes of some of the party MPs.

Mr Ruto on Wednesday claimed that both the International Criminal Court and the local tribunal were not capable of addressing the root cause of the post-election violence which also displaced over 650,000 people.

“Neither Moreno-Ocampo nor Barack Obama will help us. A local tribunal will also not address all the issues,” he said.

Similar sentiments were expressed by Roads minister Franklin Bett, Energy assistant minister Charles Keter, MPs Benjamin Lagat, Zakayo Cheruiyot and Julius Kones.

Mr Cheruiyot said the country was going through a leadership crisis and both President Kibaki and Prime Minister Odinga should show leadership by preaching reconciliation.

And Mr Lagat said: “If the PM says that he was wronged, why didn’t he go to court? And if President Kibaki believed that he won the election and Raila incited his followers to cause chaos, then why didn’t he go to the Hague? They should not subject others to systems they themselves have no faith in.”

Mr Keter said that if the list did not have the names of the two principals then it was “fake” because it was for their sake that people fought.

Outside Constitution
Mr Lagat said that the current government was negotiated outside the Constitution and therefore the two leaders should seek ways outside the local and international laws to solve the country’s problems.