Monday, January 30, 2012

Uhuru, Ruto asked not to blame others for ICC charges



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Deputy Prime Minster Uhuru Kenyatta (left) with Eldoret North MP William Ruto being anointed during prayers at Ruiru Municipal Stadium on January 28, 2012. Photo/STEPHEN MUDIARI
Deputy Prime Minster Uhuru Kenyatta (left) with Eldoret North MP William Ruto being anointed during prayers at Ruiru Municipal Stadium on January 28, 2012. Photo/STEPHEN MUDIARI 
By NATION TEAM newsdesk@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Sunday, January 29  2012 at  20:39
Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Eldoret North MP William Ruto have been told to carry their cross and stop blaming others for the confirmation of charges against them by the International Criminal Court.
Speaking to Nation, Kasipul Kabondo MP Oyugi Magwanga took issue with claims that the two are blaming their woes on Prime Minister Raila Odinga yet they thrice mobilised MPs to reject a bill seeking to set up a local tribunal by Imenti Central MP Gitobu Imanyara.
“Ruto and Uhuru took personal initiative to defeat the Imanyara Bill thinking the ICC wheels of Justice will drag on for years and have now changed tune when what they dearly pushed for using their financial might has turned against them”, he said.
Mr Magwanga, challenged Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto to put the matter to rest by publishing a documentation of how MPs voted for the Imanyara bill instead of hoodwinking Kenyans and using criminal cases against them to settle political scores at the expense of thousands of victims of their alleged activities of violence.
Veteran politician Akech Chieng asked Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka to stop shedding crocodile tears for the ordeal facing Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto, yet his interest is fixed elsewhere. (READ: Uhuru, Ruto and Kalonzo vow to stay united)
Sympathy votes
Mr Chieng told Mr Musyoka to stop engaging Kenyans in intellectual dishonesty saying as a lawyer it is quite disheartening for a person of his stature (Musyoka) to be carried with euphoria and join in the bandwagon of those whose personal ambitions come first before the law.
“If Musyoka is not strategising to benefit from sympathy in Uhuru, Ruto block votes, why can’t he tell them the truth the way minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs Mutula Kilonzo has been doing?” he posed. “It is all about selfish sense of greed and opportunism,” he added.
Separately, politicians have been warned to stop using the confirmation of charges as a campaign tool ahead of the General Election.
Bishop Beneah Salalah Okumu of ACK Mumias diocese said it was dangerous for supporters of Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto to try and exploit the issue of the ICC trials for political mileage.
Criticising two prayer meetings by the pair, he said it was embarrassing the prayers had ended up as campaign platforms where leaders blamed rivals for manipulating the ICC process to have the suspects tried at The Hague.
In Migori County, over 20 civic leaders asked Mr Kenyatta to resign from being DPM, arguing that the post was also a public office and he should wait to be cleared by the ICC.
Mr Asawo Adundo, the council chairman, said resigning from the Finance ministry but still flying the DPM flag is political hypocrisy that should never be entertained.

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