Uhuru and Ruto free to run, insists Wamalwa

Justice minister Eugene Wamalwa has insisted that Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Eldoret North MP William Ruto are free to contest the presidency.

Mr Wamalwa said the matter is "purely a judicial process and should not be politicised".

He said the focus should be on ensuring peaceful elections at his Nairobi office Wednesday.

Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto are facing charges of crimes against humanity committed during the 2007/08 post election violence that left 1,133 people dead and 650,000 others uprooted from their homes.

The two politicians are due to stand trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) together with co-accused former head of the public service Francis Muthaura and radio presenter Joshua arap Sang.

On Monday, the court announced that the trial in the case against Mr Ruto and Mr Sang will start on April 10, 2013.

The case against Mr Kenyatta and Mr Muthaura will start on April 11.

This will be a month after the next General Election set for March 4, 2013.

On Wednesday, Mr Wamalwa said Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto were “innocent until proven guilty”.

He termed the ruling of the ICC as “effectively removing the issue of ICC from the election table”.

“The ICC, in its wisdom, has found that the requests by some of the suspects to be allowed time to engage in the General Election; in the healing and reconciliation process of the country, was reasonable, and they have allowed them to do that. As to whether or not they shall be elected President, that’s up to Kenyans to decide,” said Mr Wamalwa.

"The court has spoken…they are free to contest the elections and thereafter proceed with the cases."

The minister has maintained this stance since taking office 100 days ago from his predecessor Mutula Kilonzo (now in the Education docket).

This means that Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto, barring a ruling from Kenya’s courts, will be free to run in the polls.

Mr Kilonzo had vehemently opposed Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto's candidature saying they ought to be cleared first of the grave crimes, before offering themselves for leadership positions.

At the same time, Mr Wamalwa appeared to extinguish doubts about what appeals to the court ruling on the creation of 80 new constituencies and the 1,450 county wards would mean, saying the matter ended when the five-judge bench concluded hearing on the petitions on Monday this week.

The minister said the court was “not an ordinary court”, and that as per the Constitution, it heard and determined the cases within the statutory timelines, and that there was no room for appeal, because, the court brought the whole matter to “closure”.

“The right of appeal is not automatic…For now we want to see the IEBC moving the process forward,” said the minister.

He said the IEBC should “from tomorrow” issue a “clear roadmap” on the next steps in the journey to elections, including such things as voter registration, voter education, nomination of candidates, the polling date, and the run-off.

Mr Wamalwa added that he’d lined up meetings and conferences to “preach peace” all over the country.

“The government is making every effort to ensure that the next elections are done in a free, fair, democratic and peaceful manner,” said Mr Wamalwa.

The minister said that he would use his remaining term in office to implement the Constitution. He said the Leadership and Integrity Bill, and the Campaign Financing Bill, were still with the Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution.

The CIC put up a full-page advertisement in the dailies calling on the public to submit their proposals to the Leadership and Integrity Bill by Friday, July 20, 2012. But that does not mean that the doors will be closed. In legislation, changes can be made to the Bill at any time, pending the approval of the Bill by Parliament.

Though the Bill had been almost ready for publication before Mr Wamalwa took office, he said the apparent delay was not deliberate, but that he was just “following the process”.

“There are those who wanted to politicise the Bill, saying that it was being tailor-made for specific individuals. That is not true,” Mr Wamalwa said.

The minister also waded into the 47 County Commissioners appointment debacle saying that they ought to respect the law, vacate office, because the courts had already nullified their appointments. He said the President had been duly advised.

Mr Wamalwa also backed the proposed anti-terrorism Bill saying it was important for the country to fight terrorists.