Kenya has told the African Union that the ongoing ICC case against Deputy President William Ruto is a threat to peace and stability.
Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed said that though most post-election violence issues have been addressed, some risks remain.
“Excellencies, Kenya’s peace and stability continues to be threatened by the ongoing prosecution of the Deputy President at The Hague, which greatly undermines the gains that Kenya has made in the promotion of lasting peace, reconciliation and stability as brought out more elaborately by this report,” Amina said.
She was speaking on Wednesday in Addis Ababa where she commented on a report showing that all IDPs have been settled at a cost of more than Sh32 billion.
Amina reported that 303,466 displaced families, including 245,416 from the post-poll violence, were resettled.
“Some 76,302 households were facilitated to return to their original homes; a total of 71,473 houses were constructed; land totalling 22,417 acres, on which 8,754 households were settled, was procured with the government constructing 4,845 houses on it,” she said.
Ruto is on trial, alongside former journalist Joshua Sang, for crimes against humanity during the 2007-08 post-election violence.
President Uhuru Kenyatta’s similar charges were withdrawn by Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda who said she did not have enough evidence to sustain a trial.
Kenya has been at the forefront of urging AU members to withdrawal from the ICC, arguing that it only targets Africans.
Amina asked the AU to sign the Malabo protocol seeking to empower an African court to deal with international crimes.
“We believe that Africa is able to find lasting solutions to its problem by operationalising the African Governance Architecture by strengthening its supporting institutions.
“We therefore encourage member states to consider signing the protocol on amendments to the protocol on the statute of the African Court of Justice and Human Rights,” Amina said.
Source- the-star.co.ke
