Kibaki and Raila meet to set date for Ocampo’s arrival

The meeting is expected to agree on the details of the investigations. The government is either expected to arrest the key suspects and hand them over to Mr Moreno-Ocampo or allow the International Court to arrest and try them.

Mr Odinga has already indicated that the government would co-operate with the international court.

The turn of events goes against the belief by many politicians that The Hague would take ages to start working on the Kenyan case. It is believed that as many as six Cabinet ministers, five MPs and several business people are on Mr Moreno-Ocampo’s list.

The Hague has already started preparatory investigations into the prosecutions by setting aside a budget. It has also hired Kiswahili interpreters and is working with some foreign members of the Waki Commission to help tighten the evidence.

For Mr Moreno-Ocampo to officially start investigations, he has to prove to the Pre-Trial chambers at The Hague that he has a strong case against the suspects.

Between last year and this year, political parties, human rights NGOs, individuals and the Waki Commission have submitted their evidence in what has been seen as Kenya’s resolve to deal with acts of impunity.

President Kibaki and Mr Odinga have been treading carefully about The Hague since it is suspected that some of their key allies could be on the Waki list.

It is still not clear if a local tribunal will be formed since two previous attempts have been rejected by Parliament. Mr Kilonzo has warned on international standards being demanded of the local tribunal.

End charges

He says the standars cannot be achieved without amending the Constitution to cushion the tribunal from the President’s powers to grant amnesty and the Attorney General’s powers to end charges.