Revealed: The State’s message for Ocampo

• ICC chief to be told that his mission is premature as Kenya can sort out its own mess

Should President Kibaki and Mr Odinga accept to refer the case to the ICC, they would have demonstrated their determination to end impunity, which has taken root in Kenya.

Ms Hellen said that referring the case to The Hague did not require the permission of Parliament.

“A referral does not require parliamentary involvement and does not contain any guidance on potential suspects. This will remain entirely a remit of the prosecutor,” she said.

In Nairobi, both PNU and ODM were planning how to handle the meetings with Mr Moreno-Ocampo with a view to securing the trials of the suspects in Kenya.

PNU leaders were of the view that the ICC should allow Kenyan courts, with international participation, to carry out the trials.

While they were in agreement about the frailties of the Judiciary, they were emphatic that swift reforms could prepare the local law courts to carry out the trials.

The view, however, was not shared by Cabinet ministers George Saitoti and Mutula Kilonzo, who insist that key suspects should be ready to face the ICC.

Similar divisions were evident on the ODM side where the National Executive Council failed to strike a position on the trials.

Sources at the NEC meeting held at Orange House were categorical that ODM would demand the punishment of the heads of the Administration Police and regular police before touching on the politicians.

It was also understood that some members stated that those behind the “stolen” election should face punitive action before targeting the youths who threw stones and lit tyres to barricade roads during the violence.