Tribunal: Kenya to beg Ocampo for more time

• We’ll tell him sorry, says Mutula, but ICC has already indicated it will take a hard line

“The failure lies on the shoulders of the whole country and I cannot carry the baby alone,” Mr Kilonzo said.

He was speaking at a Naivasha hotel during an induction for members of the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC).

He told the team that the TJRC Act gave them the independence to do their work without interference.

Witch-hunting

“Universally, TJRCs are known to be very expensive. It is, therefore, expected that you will design a process and structures that are responsive of these facts,” the minister said.

The truth team is not an instrument of prosecution or witch-hunting, nor can it be a whitewash as the sceptics would want to suggest, he said.

“It cannot target particular communities or individual personalities, otherwise its purpose would be defeated,” he said.

Its job is to heal the wounds of the victims and reconcile the nation, he said and called on the international community to help. The induction was attended by TJRC chairperson Bethuel Kiplagat, his deputy Betty Murungi and other commissioners.