VP MUSYOKA TELLS PM ODINGA TO QUIT PRESIDENTIAL RACE

Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka (right) leaves Golf Hotel in Kakamega after a meeting with area leaders on November 20, 2012. Photo/ISAAC WALE  NATION MEDIA GROUP

Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka has asked Prime Minister Raila Odinga to retire from politics together with President Kibaki having served as equal partners in the coalition government.

Mr Musyoka said this was the only way Kenyans would have a chance to elect new leaders focused on taking the country to the next level of development under the new constitutional dispensation.

“He should consider taking a break from politics and let young and determined leaders to take over from where they have left,” said Mr Musyoka during a rally at Nabongo grounds in Mumias town.

The VP noted that the Prime Minister's post was not provided for in the Constitution and was only “sneaked into the old one” to allow for the formation of the coalition government following the post-election violence that rocked the country in 2007.

Mr Musyoka said he would partner with Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi to ensure his quest to succeed President Kibaki was realised.

“I’m ready to work with the DPM and capitalise on the vast leadership experience I have and give Kenya the best leadership,” he said.

The VP accused some leaders of advancing selfish and tribal politics at the expense of unity and peace.

“We must place Kenya and the electorate first,” he said.

Earlier, the VP opened Wiper Democratic Party offices in Mumias town and later addressed another rally at Muliro gardens in Kakamega.

He is expected to tour other parts of Western Province, including Bumula and Teso.

At the same time, Mr Musyoka has challenged sugar milling firms to brace for competition after the end of Comesa safeguards in February 2014.

The VP said the sugar industry required total overhaul to prepare for the removal of Comesa safeguards.

He said measures put in place to revamp the industry were not enough, arguing that key players in the sector needed to implement policies to protect sugar firms and farmers against exploitation.

“If millers fail to diversify and expand their product base and operations, the industry could collapse,” he said.

He said the government would seek another two-year extension if the industry failed to stabilise by 2014.

He urged Mumias residents to elect leaders who would push for reforms in the sugar industry.

“The leaders you elect will determine the future of the industry,” he said.

Read More

Kenya’s election chaos cases not to be heard in Arusha

by Staff writer

 ONLY, four months  before going to polls next March, Kenya’s suspects behind the chaos that resulted from previous elections have been refused to have their cases transferred to Arusha.

The country’s Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Uhuru Kenyatta and former Civil Service chief Mr Francis Muthaura have lost a bid seeking to have their cases moved from the International Criminal Court in The Hague to the Arusha-based, United Nations Criminal Tribunal.

But earlier, the other Arusha-based, East African Court of Justice, through its registrar, Dr John Ruhangisa stated that it was also capable of handling Kenya’s post-election chaos’ cases.

The two suspects in the fracas which claimed more than 1000 lives in 2008, had applied to the trial chamber which has now directed them to instead make the application to the ICC presidency.

The Ocampo 4 to face trial at the International Criminal Court.
From left: Francis Muthaura, William Ruto, Uhuru Kenyatta and Joshua Arap Sang.

Mr Muthaura, who once served at the Arusha-based, East African Community Secretariat as its founding Secretary General requested The-Hague based, ICC court to allow submissions from Kenyan and Tanzanian authorities to support the transfer wish, but this appeal has also been rejected.

"The chamber rejects the request by the defense of Muthaura to invite submissions from the authorities in Kenya and Tanzania as to the prospect of holding the trial in either country," the ICC trial chamber ruled.

In a ruling issued last week  and which was made available in Arusha, the judges said their ruling was based on a provision in the Rome Statute that allows the court to sit anywhere if appropriate.

"The Court may sit elsewhere, whenever it considers it desirable, as provided in the Statute," the judges said, citing Article 3 (3) of the Statute.

"The chamber Rejects the request by Mr Kenyatta defense to change the place of the trial, without prejudice to the right of the defense, in accordance with Rule 100 of the Rules, to address its application to the Presidency, should it wish further to pursue the option of changing the place where the Court sits," the ICC.

If the defense considers re-applying to the presidency, the presidency will then seek the views of the trial chamber and make a decision if the cases should be moved to other countries but after consulting the state where the court may consider holding its sittings.

In May this year, Kenyatta's defense team requested the trial chamber to consider transferring their case to Kenya or Arusha on basis of high travel costs involved and the fact that the case will be heard nearer to the affected region.

Muthaura's defense team had also wanted the case to be heard at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in Arusha to "reduce disruption and strain that the trial would place on the accused persons and could additionally reduce costs relating to witness travel, reduce disruption to victims and ensure that the judicial process remains in, or in proximity to, the territory concerned."

Trials for the two and their co-accused Eldoret North MP William Ruto and Joshua arap Sang are set to begin at the ICC in April next year.

The four are facing trials over their possible roles in organising or financing the post election violence of 2008, when more than 1300 people were killed and nearly half a million others displaced.

Read More