Own up over chaos, MP tells party

An ODM MP has asked his party leaders to take responsibility for post-election violence that rocked the country early last year.

Mr Isaac Ruto accused some top ODM leaders of adopting a holier-than-thou attitude, and yet they were behind calls for mass action to protest at alleged stealing of presidential votes.

The Chepalungu MP asked Kenyans to ignore The Hague process and pursue national reconciliation.

His calls yesterday came a day before the arrival of the chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Mr Luis Moreno-Ocampo.

He claimed that those who were now calling for the trials of post-election violence suspects were at the forefront of propagating the mayhem that claimed the lives of 1,133 Kenyans and displaced an estimated 650,000.

“I am particularly incensed by a statement by my party leaders that ODM will cooperate with Moreno-Ocampo, yet these are the same faces who kept calling for mass action, knowing full well that it meant more blood-letting,’’ he said.

But ODM secretary-general and party spokesman Anyang’ Nyong’o dismissed Mr Ruto as a product of dictatorship and whose group is enjoying the fruits of mass action.

“Mass action was necessary because the stolen election would have been a foregone conclusion, and for the benefit of people like Ruto, independence, multipartyism and Grand Coalition Government are milestone successes of the people’s power,’’ the Medical Services minister said.

The issues being addressed by the ICC and the country’s leadership are much bigger than “giving it a mouth and stomach approach,” Prof Nyong’o said.

ODM Kenya nominated MP Mohammed Affey said Mr Moreno-Ocampo’s visit and statements would generate unnecessary anxiety.

He said the names of key suspects should be made public so that they could be judged in the court of public opinion.

Wajir West MP Adan Keynan called for caution in punishing suspects of election violence, warning that Kenya risked joining the league of failed states if it embraced the ICC.