THE ICC FOUR SUSPECT MUST RESPECT THE LAW AND STOP SEEKING OUT TRIBAL EMOTIONS AS THIS COULD BE ANOTHER RECIPE TO THE NEXT ROUND OF ANARCHY AND CHAOS.

Commentary By Leo Odera Omolo.

WHAT the Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Mutula Kilonzo has been crusading about in regard to he impending ICC trials and the four suspects is the truth of the matter if at all Kenya ascribes to the rule of law.

Kenya is not the land of gangsters and political mafias, but a country which is guided by the rule of law, thus allowing the ICC suspect to run for the presidency of this country in the next general elections before they are cleared of all criminal offenses would be a mockery to the rule of the natural justice.

What we have been witnessing of late portrays our beloved nation of Kenya as a country in a serious crisis of confidence with its laid down rule of laws. We have gone miles away in stooping too low on pertinent issues and the rule of law governing this country.

It appears as if the legally laid down rule of subjugation in criminal cases have long been repealed. Suspects in serious criminal offenses now goes public defending themselves in public rallies and in the newspaper columns instead of doing so before the judges in the court of law. Or this doesn’t apply in the ICC cases?

In this context, Kenyans have been stooping too low as if Kenyan leaders have run out of ideas, and become politically and intellectually bankrupt. Or is it the question of political naivety?

People who have been committed to stand trial before an international court of justice for committing some of the most heinous criminal offenses have gone solo defending their cases through the so-called prayer meetings-cum-political rallies instead of doing so inside the court room.

Under all the circumstances, Kenyans will not allow anyone with a criminal tug on his head to run for presidency. Such people should wait patiently until after the ICC judge’s verdict clears them of all the offences preferred against them and thereafter e shall e very much comfortable with their presidential candidature. They shouldn’t be in hurry. Kenya is not going to be rubbed out of the universal’s map overnight. The country is hereto stay and once the ICC suspect gets cleared, we shall warmly welcome their candidature.

But for now Hon Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta and HON William Samoei Arap Ruto should give us a break. The two must humble themselves to the Kenyans wishes and stop forthwith the bad a habit of polluting the air and polarizing the minds of the peace loving Kenyans

The utterances of the two gentlemen whose names I have mentioned above is an indication that another second round of election violence is in the offing, Their emotionally charged speeches could turn out to be recipe of anarchy and chaos should the law prevent them from contesting the presidency…

And these are some of the points Minister Mutula has been trying hard to put across. There is no mincing of word nor is there any short-cut path to the presidency of this country.

The ICC suspects have gone out of their ways by invoking the names of their perceived rivals in the presidential contest by insinuating some people were hell-bent on keeping them out of presidential race by sending them for trial before the ICC. Why are they flying out of the truth?.

Why can’t they face the truth as naked as it is in the respect of ICC’s cases? Thy know pretty well who was commissioned by the President to investigate the post election violence cases in this country, and who presented his commission’s finding to the former UN Secretary General Dr Kofi Annan in a sealed envelope, and which the former UN Chief consequently handed over to the ICC, resulting in the criminal charges being preferred against them in the ICC.

Kenyans are not a bunch of fools, but highly intelligent people who are capable of analyzing and digesting issues. The Kenyans knew pretty well where the truth lays and will not be cowered with cheap propaganda and empty political slogans for the purpose of votes catching.

The ICC suspects who are bent on flying out of the truth by invoking the names of innocent people and using them cheaply in order to gain political mileage over their opponent are making big political blunders that they will live to regret. Those cheering them up in the rallies knew where the truth lies, but perhaps they are only interested in making quick kills by laying their hands on the elections campaign logistics and resources, which are said to be in abundance and not in short o supplies.

I was taken a few step back when I heard one of the ICC suspects invoking the names of other innocent people like President Barack Obama of the united States, a man who has nothing at stake and lays no claims on Kenya’s politics or emotionally charging at the Western European countries for their very valid comments on ICC cases in Kenya. Those floating these kin o mediocrity ideas should know that Kenya is not in isolation, but it is the pat and parcel of the international community therefore what is affecting us here at home has negative repercussions to others.

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Leo Odera Omolo is a veteran journalist living in semi-retirement in Kisumu City and operating in the entire Western Kenya. He likes commenting frequently on different issues and topics.