Sunday, October 27, 2013
Six Members of Parliament yesterday urged President Uhuru Kenyatta
not to appear before judges at the International Criminal Court at The
Hague.The six among them Katoo ole Metito (Kajiado South), Mary
Wambui (Othaya) and Joseph Nkaissery (Kajiado Central) were speaking
when they accompanied the President at the homecoming ceremony of
Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph ole Lenku in Loitokitok.
At the
same time, President Uhuru supported Inspector General David Kimaiyo’s
views that local media allegedly misreported the Westgate mall attack.
He said local journalists reported recklessly instead of acting
responsibly and within the law to protect the families of those who were
affected by the tragedy. He refuted claims that Kimaiyo’s remarks were
meant to curtail media freedom because of how some journalists had
covered the Westgate mall attack.
“Kimaiyo only cautioned over
coverage that appeared to give too much publicity to the attackers,”
said Uhuru.He appealed to the journalists to be sensitive to the
families of those either killed or injured in such attacks.
“I
have been to many countries, but I have never seen TV footage aired live
as people are being shot,” said the President. He said the security
forces were devoted to tackling criminals, therefore, they should be
respected because they sacrificed to protect the country.
Fourth estate
“For
the Fourth Estate don’t be people who glorify ‘criminals who want to
harm Kenyans, do not demoralise our security officers, they have my full
support because security is key to all of us,” said Kenyatta.
“You
can say press freedom, mimi mtanitusi mpaka ngombe warudi kwa boma na
mimi sitashtuka, mimi sitajali (you will abuse me until the cows come
back to the shed, I will not be cowed, and I will not care),” he added.
The President told the media houses that even when they showed pictures on televisions they must be humane.
“They have children and siblings and we must respect their feelings, don’t praise criminals,” he said.
On the International Criminal Courts (ICC) cases against him,
Kenyatta was cagey in talking about it and instead noted he agreed with
MPs present who told him to skip the ICC trials.
“Hiyo mambo
wenzangu wameongea sitaki kuongea zaidi, tuko hapa hapo laini hiyo, (I
would not like to comment more from what my friends have said”) he said.
The Hague issue
He was referring to earlier
speeches by Members of Parliament who asked him to skip the ICC trials,
which will begin on 12th of November at The Hague in Netherlands.
The National Alliance (TNA) MPs met last week and resolved that the President must not go to The Hague.
“The
party MPs agreed that they will not allow you to go, if you go against
the party position, then you know the consequences,” Ole Metito, who is
the immediate former Internal Affairs minister, told the President.
Maj
Gen (rtd) Nkaissery, told Kenyatta: “Over 6 million Kenyans voted for
you when they clearly knew that you had a case to answer and the ICC, we
will not allow you to go there.”
Biggest court
Onesmus
Ngunjiri, Bahati MP agreed with the Nkassery’s statement and added that
the biggest court was the vote that Uhuru received in the March 4
General Election. “We want the world to know that Kenya is a sovereign
state and independent, we will camp at the airport not to allow you to
leave the country,” added TNA Nominated MP Peris Tobiko.
Othaya
MP, Mary Wambui said that Kenyans would not be led by colonialists and
warned that no plane will leave the country carrying the Kenyan
President to The Hague.
“We elected you the President of Kenya and
you have a duty to serve Kenyans therefore you must not go to The Hague
because the electorate expect you to serve them,” she said.
Joseph
Limo new MP for Kipkelion East said they would consider whether the
Deputy President William Ruto should continue attending the trial
sessions at The Hague.