Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 69146,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/69146/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 577,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Ocampo Six from evading justice. That is far from the truth. We are very much interested in justice being done for those six. We have no problem with the six being prosecuted through the international criminal justice system under the ICC. What we are against is what we have seen as blatant politicization of this process. We have our own views, which it is our duty as Kenyans to express. The six persons on Ocampo’s list are not even suspects as we speak. They are potential suspects. It is not until after the summons have been issued against them that they will officially become suspects. It is only at that moment that even some of the things that Mr. Ocampo is talking about can be talked about. Personally, I cannot imagine somebody like Amb. Muthaura raping any woman leave alone, committing mass rape. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the International Crimes Act, which this Motion seeks to repeal, was passed when this country was going through very difficult circumstances. The date of its assent was December, 2008. You will recall that we were not party to the Rome Statute. The statute was not incorporated into the Laws of Kenya until eight months after the post-election violence. At that moment in time, the national judicial system was very weak. There were lots of investigations going on, but our Judiciary could not cope at that particular time. From the time when this Act was passed, things have fundamentally changed in this country. There were people who could not greet each other, but they now have tea together. I was very pleased when we went to the Rift Valley and found a group of Kalenjin women who were contributing money to assist members of the Kikuyu community to build houses which had been burnt down. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, as a country, we should be encouraging those initiatives, because God is the one who put those neighbours together. Nobody decided: “This is the person who is going to be my neighbour”. We should encourage them to continue to live in peace, security and we develop this country together. As I was saying, there has been a fundamental change of circumstances. We have now passed the new Constitution and within the next two months or so, our Judiciary will have radically changed. There will be a new Chief Justice. A Director of Prosecutions will have been appointed. Maybe, there will be changes in the Office of the Attorney- General. The judges will have been vetted. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the fears that we had when we were introducing the international criminal justice system to support our justice system here are no longer there. Our Constitution does even empower courts to try crimes against humanity. So, there is nothing we cannot handle. We are not saying that this change is going to affect the trial of those six persons. What we are saying is that, as a sovereign country, there is no other Kenyan who is going to be tried at The Hague. Let those six go. We have learnt our lessons. From now on, all Kenyans will be tried on Kenyan soil. That is the position in the United States of America. I do not know why that is not the position here. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the ICC is a court of last resort. With an empowered national judicial system, there will be no need for the ICC. I have read a lot on the ICC. It is not strictly an international court. The ICC is a colonial and imperialist court."
}