Before you vote: The truth about reviving the ICC cases

By Vincent Ng'ethe

“We are aware of a plan by our competitors in the Nasa alliance to have the cases we had at ICC resurrected in the event that they win the election but their plans will not work.”
Deputy President William Ruto speaking in Nandi County on June 12

Is the opposition plotting to revive the ICC cases?

The Deputy President was responding to news reports that quoted International Criminal Court lawyer Anton Steynberg. Mr Steynberg mused in them about the possibility that the next government might be more cooperative than the current one towards the revival of the ICC cases.

Speaking in Tharaka Nithi on Friday, Nasa officials, Mr Kalonzo Musyoka and Mr Musalia Mudavadi denied that their coalition was intent on reviving the ICC cases.

The Deputy President is clearly making hay from Mr Steynberg’s remarks by implying that it is not difficult to guess which government the ICC lawyer would prefer to deal with.

Part of the reason the attack is attractive is because Nasa Presidential candidate Raila Odinga notably criticised the court when it dropped the cases against Mr Uhuru and Mr Ruto, arguing that it showed any leader could escape justice by intimidating witnesses.

Mr Ruto has not provided evidence that such a plan exists. Politicians may purport to infer intent on the part of their opponents based on what they cite as past actions, but that is different from asserting the presence of a plan as fact, with no hard evidence to back it up.