The Hague, Saturday 23rd November 2013.
At a side event organized for African states in the Africa Room at the World Forum by the Coalition on the ICC, Attorney General Githu Muigai read the usual script about how the government has cooperated fully with the ICC etc etc. But this time he went one step further saying that we in civil society should disclose our antecedents with regard to the Kenyan cases. He said that he was speaking for the government and we should disclose who we speak for. My reply was as follows:
"The government has perfected the art of obfuscation and turning the ICC narrative on its head. But let us be clear why we are here. We are here because Kenya has failed dismally to provide justice for victims of post election violence.
When he taught me law, Prof. Githu Muigai taught me among other things that the law was a tool to pursue truth and to achieve justice. I must have missed class the day he taught the lesson that we should use our education to help people in power to find the most legal ways of breaking the law.
Today, the AG is a part of a big government delegation that is going around the world making the case for the Kenyan trials to be stopped, and yet he has drafted laws at home seeking to curtail alternative voices so that only the voices of Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto and their supporters are heard.
The AG asks who we speak for. I speak for the 1,133 people whose voices were permanently silenced in 2008, the 600,000 who were displaced, the hundreds who were raped and all those who lost their livelihoods.
At a side event organized for African states in the Africa Room at the World Forum by the Coalition on the ICC, Attorney General Githu Muigai read the usual script about how the government has cooperated fully with the ICC etc etc. But this time he went one step further saying that we in civil society should disclose our antecedents with regard to the Kenyan cases. He said that he was speaking for the government and we should disclose who we speak for. My reply was as follows:
"The government has perfected the art of obfuscation and turning the ICC narrative on its head. But let us be clear why we are here. We are here because Kenya has failed dismally to provide justice for victims of post election violence.
When he taught me law, Prof. Githu Muigai taught me among other things that the law was a tool to pursue truth and to achieve justice. I must have missed class the day he taught the lesson that we should use our education to help people in power to find the most legal ways of breaking the law.
Today, the AG is a part of a big government delegation that is going around the world making the case for the Kenyan trials to be stopped, and yet he has drafted laws at home seeking to curtail alternative voices so that only the voices of Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto and their supporters are heard.
The AG asks who we speak for. I speak for the 1,133 people whose voices were permanently silenced in 2008, the 600,000 who were displaced, the hundreds who were raped and all those who lost their livelihoods.
Good job Mr Njonjo Mue.... We are very proud of you, for a job exceptionally well done. Thank you for representing the continent and standing tall
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