Why Kibaki Is The Main Target in Ocampo's List of 6

Kenya comes full circle from the Kapenguria Six to the Ocampo six

Nobody would have guessed it but the Kenyatta name entered into the history books of Kenya leadership politics when he was charged with six others in Kapenguria for being not only a member but the leader of an illegal murderous gang called the Mau mau. Almost 60 years later the Kenyatta name is set to exit leadership politics in Kenya with another Kenyatta being charged with directing a murderous gang called the Mungiki.

His excellency President Mwai Kibaki's behaviour in recent months explained.

Admittedly the situation is very different this time round but the similarities are uncanny and more numerous than one would think at first glance. Both trials involved six persons, the earlier case was the Kapenguria six, this time round it is the Ocampo six. Both controversial court cases were a very major turning point in the history of Kenya and destined to lead to the liberation of the Kenyan people with this second one leading to the major liberation of ending impunity in these shores.

And the end of impunity is the underlying messages that many analysts have aptly captured as special ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo released his list of six suspects. For the first time the legal strategy of Ocampo can be clearly analyzed. The direction it is leading is shocking and unexpected for many because it is the road to justice and it sticks like a leach to his promises of dealing with those who were most responsible for the violence. The list reveals just how sharp a legal mind the Argentine lawyer is and is a warning volley to the lawyers for the six of what they will be up against in the months to come. But what I personally found even more revealing was that the list subtly and very clearly on my mind explains plenty of political mysteries that have plagued Kenya in recent times.

Let me start with the political mystery explained. In recent months those who have known President Kibaki have been shocked at how the president metamorphosed before their very eyes from a well know permanent caterpillar to the beautiful butterfly that delivered a new constitution that is bound to have far reaching grave consequences on the political class (in fact we have already seen evidence of the fallout starting to happen even before the constitution has been fully implemented).

Could it be that the president was preparing very early for a strong defense at the ICC based on an image of being the number one reformer having personally pushed for and succeeded in getting a new constitution implemented? I mean the guy was fightoing for a new constitution like his life depended on it. Could it be the reason why the president went to such great lengths and expense to invite the most famous fugitive from the ICC, President Al Bashir of Sudan to discredit and reduce the political impact of the ICC court and make a strong case for African cases to be left to the AU to resolve?

When you think about it, it all neatly fits into place like some jigsaw puzzle and makes sense. Especially when you consider that amongst the six on Ocampo’s list are head of Public service Francis Muthaura (a name that shocked many Kenyans and was totally unexpected in the list) and that of the notorious immediate former commissioner of Police Maj Gen Hussein Ali. Both these public servants were at the heart of what triggered the unprecedented killings in Kenya in January 2008. In giving their evidence everything will point straight at where they were taking orders from and that is the head of state. Indeed it will be a repeat of exactly what happened in the case of Sudan where President Al Bashir’s name emerged later as the evidence unfolded in proceedings. His indictment actually happened long after the Sudan trials had commenced.

Impeccable sources have proved to this blogger that the case against the two gentlemen (Ali and Muthaura) will be the easiest to prove, with water tight evidence. An aside here is that many Kenyans (and not just politicians, we see the same disease in the comments in this blog every day) are too fond of opening their mouths too quickly and making comments that display their ignorance and lack of knowledge on many issues. For instance in this case what many forget is that the ICC is not a court designed to prosecute chicken thieves. The guiding principal here is crimes against humanity. What happened in Kenya in January 2008 was so horrifying that any maker of the most scary horror movies in Hollywood will be quickly challenged and their work made to look like fairy tales for toddlers in comparison to what happened within the shores of our beloved country. I tried my best to capture some of that horror when the clamour for blanket amnesty for perpetrators of the post election violence started, led by some very wicked MPs. Regular readers of this blog will remember the statement we published here from a woman who watched her husband being killed and was then gang raped. But barely had a rape started when her attackers felt that the place where they were plunging their male tools in brutal rape was too small and actually proceeded to “widen it” with a panga and then continued to rape amid the blood spurting out in torrents. By some miracle of God that woman survived to tell her story. See her story here.

The legal strategy of using people who were taking orders to lead to the source of the orders is a smart one both legally and politically and for all intents and purposes is bound to work like a charm.

Now we understand why there has been so much panic amongst the political class in recent days and even talk of withdrawing Kenya from the Rome statute which is the most stupid idea I have heard in a long time because notice has to be given of 12 months and withdrawal will not affect ongoing cases in any way.

The old powerful Mafia don that has dominated Kenya for so long like a dark colossus and is called impunity is definitely going down. He is of course going down fighting, but down he is going.

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