Ocampo came from the International Criminal Court last week and said he would move with speed to try those guilty of perpetrating 2007/8 post-election violence because he wanted to try to end the current culture of impunity that exists in advance of the 2012 election.
As far as I can make out, everybody was very nice to him when he visited. He even got to adopt and stroke a cheetah. After shaking hands with Raila Odinga and Mwai Kibaki they agreed to arrest and send ‘two or three’ key perpetrators of post election violence his way on completion of investigations due to begin in December. The guilty parties are to be tried either in the Hague, or Arusha or somewhere else. Ruto bleeted in the press that people should stop focussing on this subject, Uhuru Kenyatta stayed silent.
Monday’s headline hinted at an about-turn. Surprise, surprise, Kenya’s leaders, having been gung-ho while Ocampo was here, have mulled things over the weekend and are now being very cagey about whether they will in fact undertake any arrests or allow anyone to be sent to The Hague or ICC at all. After my initial excitement that justice might be served, I now feel a yawn coming on.
Amos Wako, Attorney General is still fuming and whining about being barred entry to the US. Today, civil society is beginning to question why he has been in the same job for 18 years straight (rather than a more usual 5 year stint) and also drawing attention to the fact that there was supposed to be a stated age limit in the Constitution for the guy that holds the job.
We also went to a Born Free fund raising dinner and auction to finish off the fibre glass painted Lion project, in aid of Lion conservation. The evening comprised 99.9% speeches, MC-ing and a lion auction (x50 lots in all) that trailed on until after 1am! There was no escaping it. The order of events was printed on a card. Unable to talk much over the tanoy, I ticked off speeches and lots item by item as we went along, the assistant minister of this, the head of KWS, Virginia Mckenna of the film ‘Born Free’ fame (circa 1954?) and founder of the charity. The people sitting on my left and right got thoroughly bored of me. Although the auction was lively and my friend sold her lion for a whopping price which was a brilliant success, my bum was numb after sitting, rooted to the spot for five hours of micro-phone monologues without pause for breath. Even the delicious vegetarian meal did not console me. Hoodwinked by the fundraising machine, a chance to make use of that dance floor or chat amongst ourselves would have been nice for the eye watering price of those tickets. My husband successfully bidded on a de-snaring excursion with KWS rangers at some time in the future - he is extremely excited at the prospect.
As far as I can make out, everybody was very nice to him when he visited. He even got to adopt and stroke a cheetah. After shaking hands with Raila Odinga and Mwai Kibaki they agreed to arrest and send ‘two or three’ key perpetrators of post election violence his way on completion of investigations due to begin in December. The guilty parties are to be tried either in the Hague, or Arusha or somewhere else. Ruto bleeted in the press that people should stop focussing on this subject, Uhuru Kenyatta stayed silent.
Monday’s headline hinted at an about-turn. Surprise, surprise, Kenya’s leaders, having been gung-ho while Ocampo was here, have mulled things over the weekend and are now being very cagey about whether they will in fact undertake any arrests or allow anyone to be sent to The Hague or ICC at all. After my initial excitement that justice might be served, I now feel a yawn coming on.
Amos Wako, Attorney General is still fuming and whining about being barred entry to the US. Today, civil society is beginning to question why he has been in the same job for 18 years straight (rather than a more usual 5 year stint) and also drawing attention to the fact that there was supposed to be a stated age limit in the Constitution for the guy that holds the job.
We also went to a Born Free fund raising dinner and auction to finish off the fibre glass painted Lion project, in aid of Lion conservation. The evening comprised 99.9% speeches, MC-ing and a lion auction (x50 lots in all) that trailed on until after 1am! There was no escaping it. The order of events was printed on a card. Unable to talk much over the tanoy, I ticked off speeches and lots item by item as we went along, the assistant minister of this, the head of KWS, Virginia Mckenna of the film ‘Born Free’ fame (circa 1954?) and founder of the charity. The people sitting on my left and right got thoroughly bored of me. Although the auction was lively and my friend sold her lion for a whopping price which was a brilliant success, my bum was numb after sitting, rooted to the spot for five hours of micro-phone monologues without pause for breath. Even the delicious vegetarian meal did not console me. Hoodwinked by the fundraising machine, a chance to make use of that dance floor or chat amongst ourselves would have been nice for the eye watering price of those tickets. My husband successfully bidded on a de-snaring excursion with KWS rangers at some time in the future - he is extremely excited at the prospect.
Lastly was Sunday’s Remembrance service at the War Memorial, Jamhuri Park. Thank goodness it was dry and sunny. Last year it was heartbreaking to see those painfully thin old Kenyan war veterans with their medals and fly whisks getting soaked to the skin. The highlight for me is always the smart brass band wearing red coats and Colobus Monkey hats and also prayers by representatives of a broad spectrum of religions including Catholic, Sikh and Buddhist monk.
He might be daft as a brush and the ultimate proof that money can't buy you class (cf: his BBC hard talk interview with Stephen Sackur)but like him or loathe him (which I do) you gotta give it to Uhuru Kenyatta. While the Rutos of this world are payukaring and literally scared shitless, UK is going about his business with the typical quiet efficiency of Mount Kenya Mafia don that he is. Whack a mungiki turncoat here...loot through scams like Passat fiasco there...scuttle the constitution review process here... all in readiness for part 2 of the 2007 carnage. His dad literally annexed the whole of Kenya and he's obviously a chip off the old block so what's it what some about inconsequential Argentinian lawyer on his turf that is going to start worrying him?
ReplyDeleteOcampo seems to be the most popular name in Kenyans’ discussion. I am very skeptical about the possibility that he will do anything with the Kenyan case. Chances are that they will cobble together a local court with a few foreigners and that will be the end of the Hague debate.
ReplyDeleteWako seems to be smiling his way through the current debate as usual. People in the know say that the man has more than nine lives. He has survived for a quite a while, by basically doing nothing, and when he does, he smiles yet again,
So the lions were auctioned. Does it mean the buyers will bring them back to the city? I thought it was a pretty neat idea to have them around and about downtown.
Some countries invade two sovereign states with lies and against the UN charter and kill and displace millions but Ocampo is obviously too busy chasing countries which have had a small war. Obviously, all animals are equal but some are more equal than others!
ReplyDeleteMost of the lions were bought by the corporate sponsors who commissioned them in the first place. Hopefully they will be installed in offices and public places around Nairobi.
ReplyDeleteAnon 2. - there was an interesting article in yesterday's Standard newspaper (11/11/09) about the plight of an Internally displaced woman who was, before the election, the wife of the owner of a shoe shop in Kericho.
During election violence her husband was murdered in front of her, her baby son was beaten and thrown, left near dead and she was repeatedly raped by a gang who were targeting the whole family for no other reason than their tribe. She since found herself pregnant, had another baby of one of the rapists and has been living in squalor in an IDP camp at Nakuru Showground for more than 18 months.
She is pinning a lot of hope on Ocampo that justice will be fianlly be served. I think that with all the political machinations, the victims have all but been passed over and treated as inconsequential. 135,000 Kenyans were displaced by the violence.
Have I missed the point of your comment?
justice which is selectively applied is not justice at all, in fact, it becomes injustice!
ReplyDeleteBTW, that's not to say that the perpetrators of the PEV shouldn't be persecuted. It's saying that all war criminals should be prosecuted.
ReplyDeleteThis is off topic, and you don't have to approve it for the actual blog. I enjoy reading your blog, and it has been pretty helpful in my decision to move to Kenya following my graduation from the American University in Cairo in the Spring.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I was searching through your blog for information on "pets" in Nairobi. Does your family (or other families you know) have cats in the traditional "pet" sense? What do you do when traveling? Do you know of a boarder that serves the Nairobi Expat Community? If there is an article on this, perhaps you could point me in the right direction.
The job I will be applying for would require regular travel throughout SE Africa, but I want to keep my cat.
Thanks for the help. Keep up the great work!
Sincerely,
M.S.
Hi Mallory,
ReplyDeleteI don't see any problem in you bringing your cat and lots of people have them as pets here.
I guess you would need some papers etc. to bring it into the country. A good Nairobi vet or perhaps re-location/shipping company could probably let you know exactly what to do.
Travelling once based here should not be a problem. The chances are that you will hire at least one person to help with cleaning/laundry in your house, so they cld then feed your cat etc. while you are away.
Chat on the forum, africaexpatwivesclub.forumotion.com if you need more specific info. There's lots about Kenya moving tips there too.