How to quickly put Uhuru and Ruto back in ICC dock

President Uhuru Kenyatta (right) and Deputy President William Ruto (second from left) with Nyeri Governor Samuel Wamathai at Dedan Kimathi Stadium in the county on June 22, 2017. PHOTO | JOSEPH KANYI | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • An invitation to Independence Day celebrations in the United States on July 4 could place them on American soil at the embassy in Nairobi.
  • Even though America is not a state party to the treaty that created the International Criminal Court, it has cultivated a reputation for handing over suspects wanted by the court.
  • They could find themselves being transported at no cost to The Hague in time for the three days of sunshine in the Netherlands.

Something is missing from this year’s presidential election campaigns in Kenya.

Where there was fire, passion and deep empathy four years ago, there is just ash and a deep hole in the hearts of the people, spawning indifference and apathy. No oomph, no harrumph.

Gone is the anxiety and heartache occasioned by the personal challenge of charges at the International Criminal Court that fuelled the quest for state power to unite the country. The ferment of nationalism has been replaced by insipid arguments about trains, roads and electric power connections. Political competition has now been reduced to mundane issues about cornmeal, corruption and industrial action.

There is no patriotic fervour, no unalloyed loathing for threats of consequences from imperial powers, and no excitement at the prospect of besting the arrogant West.

Gone are the prayer rallies of 2012 that saw swathes of people around the country kneeling in supplication, willing God with their faith alone to work his miracles and do the impossible.

STRONG MOTIVATION

The personal challenges in the form of crimes against humanity charges that provided such a strong motivation for Mr Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto of the then Jubilee Party to seek election to the presidency have disappeared with the termination of their cases. The ICC has left town, tail between the legs, leaving the campaigns without flavour or seasoning.

Yet, the ICC is still within reach. Considering the negative emotions the court provokes in the Kenyan breast, there is still a chance for it to participate in this year’s election. The embers of that case continue to smoulder in three warrants of arrest issued by the ICC.

Three years ago, the ICC issued a warrant of arrest against Mr Walter Barasa for witness tampering in the Ruto case. A year later, two more warrants of arrest were issued against Mr Paul Gicheru and Mr Philip Kipkoech Bett for bribing witnesses in the Ruto case.

Although Mr Kenyatta has vowed that no Kenyan will be sent to a foreign country for trial after the collapse of his and Mr Ruto’s case, he can walk back from his statement at no cost. An invitation to Independence Day celebrations on July 4 could place all three men on American soil at the embassy in Nairobi. Even though America is not a state party to the treaty that created the ICC, it has cultivated a reputation for handing over suspects wanted by the court. The trio could find themselves being transported at no cost to The Hague in time for the three days of sunshine in the Netherlands.

NO CHANCE

Since none of the three is a government official, there is no chance that the African Union would be arguing for the termination of their cases. Exposed and flailing in the wind, like deer caught in daylights, they could start lying and dropping names, spinning the usual lies about Mr Ruto in an attempt to extricate themselves from life in the Scheveningen jail.

Surrendering the trio would embolden prosecutors to begin new witness interference charges against individuals in the Kenyatta case named in the pre-trial brief. On the basis of the claims they make, Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto would be back in the ICC's crosshairs.

That would be the time for the President and his deputy to present themselves to the ICC and volunteer to be arrested.

The defeat of the ICC is Jubilee’s shining achievement, and nothing is to be relished more than a rematch, complete with dancing troupes of Members of Parliament with graffiti hairstyles. Kenya could just re-elect its leaders from their jail cells.

Kwamchetsi Makokha is the programme advisor at Journalists for Justice.

The views expressed here are his own and do not represent those of JfJ.