Kibaki, Raila fallout over Ocampo averted

• ODM was angry with an article by Foreign PS ahead of prosecutor’s arrival

The government on Wednesday nipped in the bud a fall-out on the position its top leaders were to take during a meeting with the International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo who arrives Thursday morning.

An early morning meeting at Harambee House meant to harmonise the position that the President Kibaki and Prime Minister were to take was almost scuttled when the ODM team reacted furiously to an opinion article written by Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary Thuita Mwangi and published in the Daily Nation on Wednesday.

Strong position

Present at the meeting were President Kibaki, Prime Minister Odinga, Justice minister Mutula Kilonzo, Attorney-General Amos Wako and Lands minister James Orengo.

Before any talks could start, sources told the Nation that the ODM team represented by Mr Odinga and Mr Orengo wanted to know whether Mr Thuita’s article reflected the government’s position.

Mr Thuita had presented a strong position against Mr Moreno-Ocampo’s mission, arguing that The Hague did not have the power at this stage to take over prosecution of key suspects behind the post-election violence in which 1,133 people were killed and over 650,000 displaced from their homes.

Mr Thuita also argued that the Waki Commission of Inquiry had erred in recommending that the ICC take over if Kenya fails to establish a local tribunal to try the suspects. He also criticised chief mediator Kofi Annan for handing over the list of key suspects to Mr Moreno-Ocampo.

An argument raged at Harambee House over the opinion article, which ODM interpreted to represent the view of key public servants in the Office of the President, including the administrative and security branches.

Outside Harambee House, it also became clear that influential ministers from PNU and ODM were equally taken aback by the article, causing a flurry of meetings to craft a response. ODM, through party secretary-general Anyang’ Nyong’o, crafted a response published in the Daily Nation on Thursday.

At the Office of the President, the ODM team was only placated when they were informed that Mr Thuita was stating his personal position.

It was also clarified that the government would cooperate with Mr moreno-Ocampo, but it would insist that Kenya has the capacity to carry out trials locally under the standards set by the Rome Statute.

The meeting was also informed that the donor community had expressed its displeasure with the PS’s article and had sought assurance that the government was not planning to snub Mr Moreno-Ocampo’s visit or decline to cooperate with the ICC.

The ICC chief prosecutor arrives in the country on Thursday morning and is scheduled to meet President Kibaki and Prime Minister Odinga at about midday.

He will be seeking a formal government referral for The Hague to take over investigations and prosecution of masterminds behind the post-election violence.

He comes at a time when it seems that both sides of the coalition government might be backing down on earlier pledges of cooperation, preferring instead that local institutions be given more time.