Leaders criticise Raila over arrest call
Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Eldoret North MP William Ruto and their supporters on Sunday reacted hotly to a statement by Prime Minister Raila Odinga that they should be arrested for allegedly using prayer rallies to whip up sentiments against their prosecution at the International Criminal Court.
Mr Kenyatta said it was unfortunate for the PM to make such remarks considering that ICC matters were sensitive in the country.
“It is such reckless remarks that led to the 2007 crisis which led to the loss of lives and property. He must not be allowed to polarise our country in this manner,” Mr Kenyatta said, adding that he would make another comprehensive statement.
Mr Ruto said the PM should be the first person to be jailed if the post-election violence mystery is to be resolved.
He said Mr Odinga should be the last person to call for their arrest and claimed that the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) report had implicated the PM in post-election violence.
“In fact he became the greatest beneficiary after the violence,” Mr Ruto said. (READ: Raila denies role in Uhuru, Ruto ICC cases)
Mr Ruto said findings of the KNCHR report should be made public for the country to know the other people who were linked to the 2007-2008 post-election violence.
“If he is branding us criminals, what about the allegations which are contained in the KNCHR report which says he is the beneficiary of the violence?” the Eldoret North MP posed.
Three MPs from central Kenya also criticised Mr Odinga. Kirinyaga Central MP Gachoki Gitari said Mr Ruto and Mr Kenyatta did not run for president in 2007.
The race was between President Kibaki and Mr Odinga, the MP said, and accused the PM of stirring the country with his calls for mass action.
Mathira MP Ephraim Maina said the PM’s remarks were “out of order” and described them as a “desperate attempt” to have the two locked out of the presidential race.
“He (PM) should pursue his presidential ambition without resorting to bush tactics,” said the Mathira legislator.
Kigumo MP Jamleck Kamau urged Kenyans to pray that the truth prevails, saying Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto were “victims of a smear campaign”.
“Now that some people have come out saying their compatriots should be put in jail, we know that the truth will come out and they will be exonerated because God is on our side,” he said.
In Kiambu County, a cross-section of leaders led by Thika County Council chairman Francis Muheria claimed that the PM appeared to be working with foreign powers to block Mr Kenyatta and Ruto from contesting the presidency.
“One wonders what role Mr Odinga is playing in the ICC process. Has he now usurped the powers of Mr Ocampo?” he posed at a press conference in Thika.
“We feel that the case at the Hague no longer serves to appease Kenyans but has instead taken a political direction that can lead to further tribal sentiments,” council leaders said in a statement read by Mr Muheria.
Members of the Kikuyu Council of Elders Association also accused Mr Odinga of “malice” and said his statement may lead to political upheaval.
They told foreign countries particularly Britain to stop meddling in Kenyan politics and vowed to organize peaceful demonstrations to protest the “interference”.
In an interview with the US based Kass FM, Mr Odinga said G7 Alliance should cancel their prayer rallies immediately.
Mr Odinga said the countrywide rallies by Mr Ruto and Mr Kenyatta amounted to incitement and had nothing to do with prayers.
In a paid advertisement published in the Sunday Nation, Mr Odinga said it was improper that individuals who have been indicted on charges that they sponsored the 2007/8 violence that claimed more than 1,000 lives were operating as free men.
Prayer meetings
“Crimes against humanity are worse than murder. Yet these suspects of crimes against humanity remain free to traverse the country holding ‘prayer meetings’ – while Kenyan suspects of the lesser crime of murder conduct their prayers only behind the forbidding walls of Kamiti Maximum Security Prison, often for years before their cases are heard,” said a blistering statement from the Raila Odinga Secretariat.
Mr Odinga was responding to claims in Parliament Thursday when MPs allied to Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto tabled what has been described as a forged document alleging that the British government was working with the ICC to have President Kibaki indicted over the violence after he leaves office.
Reported By Peter Ngetich, John Njagi, Oliver Musembi and Jonathen Komen
