Drama as MPs vote to pull out of Hague

Members of the National Assembly Thursday passed a motion to initiate the process of repealing the International Crimes Act and withdrawing Kenya from the Rome Statute.

Cord MPs stormed out of the chambers saying they would not want to be part of a process they said would end in Kenya being a pariah state and jeopardise the cases at the International Criminal Court.

The passing of the motion means that the government can now write to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon notifying him of Kenya’s intention to withdraw from the Rome Statute.

The National Assembly also resolved to have a Bill introduced within the next 30 days to repeal the International Crimes Act through which Kenya domesticated the Rome Statute.

President Uhuru Kenyatta, his deputy William Ruto and journalist Joshua Sang are facing charges of crimes against humanity in The Hague court.

They are accused of plotting, financing and executing the 2008 post-election violence in which 1,133 Kenyans were killed and more than 600,000 displaced from their homes. Mr Ruto’s and Mr Sang’s case starts next Tuesday while that of Mr Kenyatta starts on November 12.

‘Jubilee scheme’

In Thursday’s debate, Minority Leader Francis Nyenze described the motion as “an evil scheme hatched by Jubilee” and said it would have serious ramifications for the country.

The House was turned into a chaotic scene as the MPs walked out just as Cord’s deputy Minority Leader Jakoyo Midiwo concluded his contribution opposing the motion moved by Majority Leader Aden Duale.

“We have walked out because we don’t want to be party to this,” Mr Nyenze told journalists outside the chambers. “The timing is not right and the decision is not good,” he said, flanked by several Cord MPs.

Jubilee MPs had heckled their Cord counterparts as they walked out, with National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi asking those withdrawing “to hurry up” and clear from the House.

Mr Midiwo had said: “We shall never be party to this and a country that steals elections. You are as bad as the occupants of those offices (in reference to Supreme Court judges).”

However, he did not walk out and some of his Cord colleagues returned to the chamber. The Jubilee MPs carried on with the debate supporting the move as they bashed the ICC.

TNA nominated MP Johnson Sakaja then had the motion amended to delete a part that said that Kenya would “suspend any links, cooperation and assistance to the International Criminal Court”.

“We would like to make it very clear that we are not seeking any motion to say we will not cooperate. The two leaders have made it very clear and said they will cooperate with ICC,” said Kigumo MP Jamleck Kamau in seconding the amendment.

Only the Minority Leader, his deputy and Ruaraka MP Tom Kajwang had contributed to the motion before the Cord withdrawal. Mr Nyenze said the move was wrong and “should not even be imagined”.

Mr Midiwo said Kenya risks becoming a failed state if it takes the route of shunning the ICC. “This motion has everything to do with the current trial,” he said. “We invited the ICC here, they never came on their own,” he stated.

Before the walk-out, Mr Duale had set about explaining why he exercised his powers and asked the Speaker to convene a special sitting of the House to discuss the motion considered “urgent and necessary.”

But his Cord counterparts were not convinced that the House needed to meet and Deputy Whip Chris Wamalwa (Kiminini, Ford-Kenya) and Mr Kajwang’ interrupted Mr Duale as he began introducing the motion.

They argued that the matter was neither urgent nor necessary and asked Speaker Muturi, who was abroad when the House was recalled from recess, to rule on whether the sitting had been legally convened.

After Mr Muturi had quickly brushed aside their concerns, saying Deputy Speaker Joyce Laboso acted within the law to convene the special sitting, it was left to Mr Duale, who had prepared for the event and had a thick file of notes.

The Majority Leader had built his argument around the claim that the cases at the ICC were politically motivated and infringed on the sovereignty of Kenya.

He argued that because Kenyans ratified a new Constitution in 2010, had a reforming Judiciary and is not a failed state, it is not proper that it should remain a signatory to the Rome Statute.

Mr Duale read extensively from advice given to former US President George W. Bush against the idea of having his country’s citizens under the purview of the International Criminal Court.

“The Kenyan cases are a classic example of the fear Bill Clinton had about the Rome Statute,” he said.

He said the cases against President Kenyatta and Mr Ruto “were created to be a serious stakeholder in the 2013 General Election.”

Mr Duale said he expected a petition in the National Assembly later seeking to have the Waki Envelope given to President Kenyatta.

Reports by Njeri Rugene, Caroline Wafula and John Ngirachu