Act on list, demand US and Germany

The US and Germany on Thursday demanded full implementation of the Waki report.

They reminded the Government that the international community was watching keenly how it handles the Waki and Kriegler reports, saying the buck stops with President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

US envoy Michael Ranneberger and his German counterpart Walter Lindner described the Waki report as “credible and good” and its recommendations capable of ending decades of the entrenched culture of impunity.

Speaking at Serena Hotel in Nairobi, Mr Ranneberger said, “The US, as we have always said, wants the full implementation of the Waki and Kriegler reports.

“The two commissions did a wonderful work and produced two good credible reports that can secure Kenya from its dark past.” .

Mr Lindner said the two reports were the product of the national accord that ended months of bloodshed. “Germany, and the European Union for that matter, are focused on the full implementation the reports.

“The common goal of all of us, including the international community, is working towards a peaceful Kenya that has broken with its darkest past that should never be repeated,” he said.

“There is everything we should be ashamed of in that report.” The two, however, said that as diplomats they cannot dictate to the Government.

Local tribunal

Appellate Judge Philip Waki, who chaired the commission, has ruffled feathers by handing a list of some prominent Kenyans to former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan in a sealed envelope.

Those on the list, the report recommends, should either appear before a local tribunal to answer to charges of planning, financing and executing the violence or be tried by the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague for crimes against humanity.

If the Government fails to constitute a local tribunal, the envelope will be automatically handed to the ICC prosecutors.

Said Mr Ranneberger: “The provision to send the report to The Hague shows how much importance Mr Annan and the international community attach to it.”

For the last two weeks, President Kibaki and Mr Odinga have found themselves under siege from their allies who have branded the Waki report a threat to the fabric of the nation and demanded that it be trashed.

On Thursday, Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka joined Deputy PM Uhuru Kenyatta, Agriculture minister William Ruto, Energy minister Kiraitu Murungi and National Heritage and Culture minister William ole Ntimama, among other leaders, in opposing the full implementation of the report.

“Having read the report, in my own opinion it would be difficult to implement it fully and effectively. We have to be careful with the document that is likely to rub the wounds that were beginning to heal,” said Mr Musyoka.

Those who want the report implemented include PM Odinga, Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi and Cabinet ministers James Orengo and Martha Karua.

Both ODM and PNU MPs have held meetings in a bid to shoot down the report, which is expected to be tabled in Parliament soon.

Politicians against the report say the document is flawed as it does not censure leaders who called for mass action.

They also say it lacks adequate evidence to sustain charges against those it lists as prime architects of the violence.

“All those people talking about the Waki report and the need to trash it, what do they want to hide from Kenyans?

“Normally, people welcome such reports. I am just mystified about their talk,” Mr Ranneberger said.

Mr Lindner said if the Government fails to implement the report, it would have finally convinced the public that it was futile to form commissions.

“So many commissions have been established, presented their reports and nothing is done.

“If you fail to implement this one, how will you convince the public over new commissions?” Mr Lindner posed.