Less Kenyans want trials to continue at The Hague

The number of Kenyans supporting the trial of President Uhuru Kenyatta, his deputy William Ruto and radio presenter Joshua Arap Sang at The Hague has dropped drastically.

An Ipsos Synovate survey released on Wednesday showed that only 39 per cent want The Hague trials to proceed there, down from 50 per cent last year.

The research, which saw 2,000 people interviewed between June 23 and June 30, indicated that 32 per cent want the trial brought closer home while 29 per cent want no trials at all.

A majority of respondents, who prefer trials at The Hague, were from Nyanza (70 per cent), Coast (68), Western (54) and Nairobi (50) while the least support came from Eastern (32), North Eastern (30), Rift Valley (24) and Central (7).

Thirty-four per cent of those who want The Hague process to continue said they do not trust the Kenyan courts, while 30 per cent were of the view it will end impunity and 24 per cent said it will bring justice for post-election violence victims.

Half the respondents, however, opposed the withdrawal of African nation from the ICC if the Kenyan cases were not brought back to the country or East African jurisdiction. Forty-one per cent backed withdrawal.

The majority of those supporting ICC withdrawal were from Central (61 per cent), Rift Valley (53), Eastern (42), North Eastern (44, Nairobi (36), Coast (32), Western (27) and Nyanza (19).

Most respondents (64 per cent) felt Kenyans were not influenced by statements of diplomats about the consequences of electing the ICC defendants in the March 4 polls while 20 per cent agreed.