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"content": "In that connection, in the strict sense of a clear reading of Articles 6, 25 and 27 of the Rome Statute, it was quite in order for the President therefore to comply with the summons that had been issued for him to appear. Some of us have had our view on this and our own view was that - I know the President touched on this issue in one way or another – the Rome Statute and the provisions of individual criminal responsibility and the inapplicability of official status is supposed to ensure that people do not commit offences and hide behind the office, so that they do not start saying; “you cannot try me or investigate me because when these things happened, I was President”. I think that jurisprudence is in order. This is because it is not the work of the President to kill people. It is not the job description of a President to commit crimes against humanity and so you cannot hide behind an office as a shield against accountability for international crimes. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, what has surprised us, however, is that these provisions on individual criminal responsibility have been interpreted to mean that if you have a trial, it does not matter whether you have other public duties, you must be available to the court. This is not true because the court’s own logic that they are oblivious of official capacity is self defeating to the extent that the court itself, the statute itself and the structures under the statute rely on State Parties not only in terms of drawing their authority and legitimacy, but also in terms of the legal framework, continuous amendment of the statute, the rules of evidence and procedure as well as other statutory and regulatory frameworks that the Assembly of State Parties does. Therefore, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, what the President did and that is contained in the Speech, is to say; “Look, I have been accused of committing crimes as a citizen of Kenya.” As he put it in his Speech, he said; “The things I am accused of did not take place when I was the President of Kenya. Therefore, in that connection, I want you, as the people of Kenya, to know, through your representatives, that I have not gone to the International Criminal Court (ICC) as your president. My trip to the ICC is not connected with my functions and the role you have given me as your President but I am going there as an individual Kenyan.” So, I want to take this opportunity to congratulate the President of Kenya, His Excellency Uhuru Kenyatta, for being courageous enough to balance between his obligations as an individual under international law on one hand, but also to make sure that he assures the people of Kenya that their sovereignty, authority and independence has not been assaulted by his trip to the ICC. The other thing that the President deliberately announced in his Speech was that as he goes to the ICC, the Deputy President, His Excellency William Ruto, will be acting as president. I have heard some commentators say, one, that this was not necessary; and two, that he did not have to say it because it is automatic that whenever the President is absent, the Deputy President becomes President. That is not true. The correct position is that it is upon the discretion of the President to decide when he cedes power to his The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}