President Kagame advises Kenya against ICC justice

By RNA Reporter
September 13, 2009

Photo:
Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki (left), President Kagame (centre) and Kenya's Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka after Kenya’s 7th national prayer breakfast in June (Photo: Daily Nation)

Kigali: Kenyan public opinion and the international community want perpetrators of the post election violence in Kenya to be handed to the International Criminal court, but President Kagame believes otherwise, RNA reports.

A bitter critic of the Hague-based court, Mr. Kagame says in the interview to appear in the latest issue of The East African newspaper that sending any suspects there is “counterproductive”. He advises caution in handling the situation.

“When I read about the International Criminal Court being used as a stick to whip people into line.... In the world where I come from, I would avoid that because it can be counterproductive”, he said.

“So there is a tricky, very complex balance between holding people accountable and therefore dealing with the question of impunity, and forging stability by way of a politics that is not always black and white — you kill us, we kill you, you do this, we do that. This is the delicate balancing act we have had to go through.”

President Kagame further says leadership has to start showing up among Kenyans so that they can work towards owning their problem. He says even if a semblance of stability came out of the international pressure as has been exerted on President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga, the results would be temporary.

The ICC remains in the bad books of Mr. Kagame who has repeatedly described it as meant for Africans. Rwanda is not a signatory to the establishment of the court, so is President Kagame's top backer, the United States. Rwanda has also stood firm behind Sudanese President Omar El Bashir, who has been indicted by this same court.

Mr. Kagame also sees the uneasy relations with France thawing, saying: “A lot of things have happened and there has been easing of the bad relationship we had with France. I don’t want to say much, I don’t want to sound like I am pre-empting anything, but from the way they are progressing I think things are going to get better once we are done with these cases. We are sure moving in a positive direction.”

In a wide ranging interview with the weekly, the President argues it is not bullets and regional military formations that will bring enduring security to the region but aggregation of common interests across the region that will bring peace and stability.

“Security is not about guns. It is about the sentiments, the attitude, the benefit you get from the other and what he gets from you. Once you allow that to happen, work becomes easier,” he says.

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