Ocampo Six fly out amid strong support for Hague

As some of the post-election violence suspects flew out of the country on Tuesday night to face their destiny at The Hague, they left behind an opinion poll showing that most Kenyans believe the ICC offers the best chance for justice.

Three of the Ocampo Six, Eldoret North MP William Ruto, his Tinderet counterpart Henry Kosgey and radio presenter Joshua Arap Sang, boarded a Hague-bound plane at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on Tuesday night.

Finance minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Public Service head Francis Muthaura were expected to fly out on Wednesday.

Former Police Commissioner Hussein Ali had taken an earlier flight Tuesday and was already in the Netherlands.

A poll, released Tuesday by research firm Synovate, showed that 61 per cent of Kenyans preferred the suspected masterminds of Kenya’s post-election violence to answer to the charges at The Hague-based court.

This is a marginal increase from a December 2010 poll where about 60 per cent polled backed the ICC.

The December poll was conducted soon after chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo made public that he intended to charge the six over the post election violence.

In the latest survey 24 per cent of those polled said they favoured a special local tribunal to try the suspects of the chaos that left 1,133 people dead and a further 650,000 people uprooted from their homes.

They, however, want the international community’s participation in the local trial even if it takes a year to prepare.

The poll, carried out between March 27 and April 1, this year from 2,000 respondents, also showed a strong preference among Kenyans for justice, with only three per cent supporting amnesty being granted to the suspects. In the December poll, 14 per cent wanted forgiveness.

The poll was released on the day some of the Ocampo Six were due to fly to The Hague to honour summonses of the Pre-Trial Chamber.

Mr Ruto, Mr Kosgey and Mr Sang will make their initial appearance at The Hague at 9.30am (10.30am Kenyan time) on Thursday.

Mr Kenyatta, Mr Muthaura and former police chief Ali are scheduled to appear at 2.30pm (4.30pm) on Friday.

Charges against the six include murder, deportation, rape, inhuman acts, persecution and other acts of torture.

According to Synovate’s lead researcher Tom Wolf, the rallies Mr Kenyatta and Ruto held in recent weeks have not changed the public’s perception.

“In December when we asked the same question, the figure was 60 per cent, which is within the margin of error. That tells me that over the last three or four months, notwithstanding all the activity, there has been, statistically, no change in Kenyans’ position on this except for the fact that in December, 14 per cent were in favour of amnesty,” Mr Wolf said on Tuesday.

“My advice to anybody running a campaign of any kind is to have your rallies but not to judge how much support you have among the Kenyan people through rallies. That can be misleading unless you hire a researcher of your choice to do a survey for you.”

Aside from the Ocampo Six, almost half the respondents favoured a special local tribunal to try other perpetrators of post-election violence.

The Hague option is supported by 80 per cent of respondents from Nyanza while Central and Rift Valley have the least support at 46 and 43 per cent respectively.

Raila political bedrock

Nyanza is Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s political bedrock and the poll shows that his position has influenced residents of the province too. On the other hand, the bulk of the six suspects comes from Central and Rift Valley Provinces, hence the low approvals.

Surprisingly though, nearly half of those who support PNU and its affiliates, including the ODM wing led by Mr Ruto, still favour The Hague option, but the support is highest among Raila-led ODM supporters and Charity Ngilu’s Narc.

At the same time, the Synovate polls indicate that most Kenyans (54 per cent) want Mr Kenyatta, Mr Muthaura and Mr Ali to relinquish their government positions.

Mr Kenyatta is Deputy Prime Minister and minister for finance, while Muthaura is secretary to the Cabinet and head of Public Service. Mr Ali is the Postmaster-General.

The poll reinforces calls by NGOs for the three to resign.

Mr Kenyatta and Mr Muthaura have already relinquished their key security positions. Mr Muthaura quit his position as head of the National Security Advisory Committee, while Mr Kenyatta ceded his position as a member of the witness protection advisory board.

According to the survey, Kenyans were also highly aware of the Ocampo Six at 79 per cent. Awareness is highest in Nairobi (97 per cent) and lowest in North Eastern Province (46 per cent).

Of the six, Eldoret North MP William Ruto was the most recognised, by nine out of 10 respondents, the recognition rising from 86 per cent in December last year.

On the other hand, radio presenter Joshua arap Sang was the least known, with only six out of 10 Kenyans able to identify him.

Mr Kenyatta was recognised by 88 per cent of respondents, up from 81 in 2010 followed by Mr Ali (65 per cent), Muthaura (64 per cent) and Mr Kosgey (63 per cent).

On Monday, last prayers were held for some of the suspects at Gatundu Stadium in Mr Kenyatta’s home turf.