THE International Criminal Court (ICC) today named the six Kenyans it wants summoned to The Hague to answer for the violence which killed 1,200 Kenyans, displaced 300,000, and brought the country to the brink of collapse after an election at the end of 2007. For those following the process carefully there was just one real surprise: the decision to name President Mwai Kibaki's secretary to the cabinet, Francis Muthaura. By choosing to go after Kenya's top civil servant, the ICC's chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo, has signalled that he would like to see the whole election process scrutinised.
Many observers, including Baobab, believe some of the responsibility for the blood-letting resides within those within Mr Kibaki's circle who sought to obscure and manipulate the vote tally. An examination of how the result was announced and how Mr Kibaki was speedily and shabbily sworn into office gives rise to the suspicion that the election may have been stolen from the prime minister, Raila Odinga. The naming of Mr Muthaura will make it hard for Mr Kibaki to remain removed from the process. His instinct will now be to delay, obfuscate, and block The Hague at every step in an attempt to protect his man.
Pointing the finger at the finance minister, Uhuru Kenyatta, strikes another blow to dynastic politics. Mr Kenyatta is a son of Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya's founding father, and a Kikuyu like Mr Kibaki. To strengthen his hand, Mr Kenyatta might now seek a political alliance with the minister of higher education, William Ruto, a Kalenjin. Mr Ruto, who has for the moment been suspended from his post on suspicion of corruption, will have to answer for an explosion of violence in the Rift Valley, which saw young Kalenjin men hack and burn alive their Kikuyu neighbours.
A so-called coalition of the accused would seemingly go against the wishes of the people: a survey released today shows that 73% of Kenyans have confidence in the ICC. The three others on the list include the then police chief, Hussein Ali, the minister for industrialisation, Henry Kosgey, and a Kalenjin businessman, Joshua Arap Sang. The list also leaves open the question of who, if anyone, should answer for the ethnic cleansing of Kikuyu from Mr Odinga's political strongholds in western Kenya.
