AG queried over Kenya's role on piracy cases

Kenya's Attorney General Amos Wako has denied having been involved in the drafting of international agreements that have made the country a “dumping ground for (Somali) pirates.”

Speaking at a three-hour meeting with Parliament’s committee on Defence and Foreign Relations on Tuesday, Mr Wako said the agreements were acceded to by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs without his knowledge.

“The Attorney General was not part of the policy determination or decision that (allows us) to enter into memorandum of understanding to prosecute piracy cases, it was all done by the ministry of Foreign Affairs,” he told the committee.

The committee chairman Aden Keynan (Wajir West, Kanu) and members Charles Kilonzo (Yatta,ODM-K), Wilson Litole (Sigor, ODM), Eugene Wamalwa (Saboti, PNU) and Jeremiah Kioni (Ndaragwa, PNU) told the AG that the agreements were lopsided and ought to be revoked as they impinged on the country’s sovereignty.

The six agreements signed between Kenya and China, United Kingdom, Canada, United States, Denmark and the European Union, the committee argued, were signed by people who did not have the interest of the country at heart.

Thus, the AG called for the revocation of the agreements saying they were putting the country’s judicial system under undue strain, while the rest of the countries in the regions benefitted.

“My concern is that we can’t hide under the sun anymore, our cases are taking longer than required.” Mr Wako said. “In fulfilling our international obligations, more is placed on the shoulders of the Republic of Kenya.”

With 19 convicted pirates languishing in Kenyan prisons and another 99 still to be convicted, the AG said the penal institutions are taking an extra toll with no compensation for Kenya’s “overzealousness” to fulfill its international obligations.

He reckoned that perhaps when the agreements were being signed, there was “an oversight” because “nobody was aware of the extent of the problem.”

Apparently, two agreements had already been signed by December 4 last year. And having seen the effect on the penal institutions, it is then that the AG decided to ask the ministry of Foreign Affairs to put a stop to more MoUs.

But then, four days later, the ministry negated the AG’s advise and went ahead to sign four more agreements on the fight against piracy with the developed countries.

When the ministry appeared before the House committee investigating the matter, it said it went ahead with the agreements with the blessings of the AG. But on Tuesday, Mr Wako denied.

“This is not the first time that a ministry is making allegations against the AG, even when the AG was not involved. Whenever things go wrong, they usually blame the AG. I am used to it,” he told the committee.

Nonetheless, the AG said the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon was aware of the extent of Kenya’s predicament and had concurred that all countries must play a role.

“Kenya cannot continue to stand alone in prosecuting pirates,” Mr Wako said.

The AG questioned what he called an “inherent contradiction” on the way the foreign countries treated Kenya as the only place where pirates can be prosecuted.

“They keep on rubbishing our judicial system…Why then are these countries afraid to prosecute the pirates, arrested by their naval forces in the high seas?” Mr Wako posed. “As soon as they give us the pirates, they dump them here and forget about what happened.”

He added: “Prosecution is one thing, but what happens if they are acquitted or they serve out their terms? These are crucial national security questions that we are looking at.”

The about-turn on the external obligations to fight piracy and the push by Parliament to flex its muscles in the name of protecting the country’s sovereignty comes after the ‘baits’ used to entice the country into signing the agreements were not delivered.

Among these, Mr Keynan said, were the construction of the water and sewage system at Shimo la Tewa, painting of the prisons, and funding of the prosecutor’s office.

None of these, according to Mr Keynan, has been delivered, yet the country continues to play its role. The UN Office of Drugs and Crime pays for the translators and lawyers for pirates in courts.