Yes, it is true Majority Kenyans want to see justice because, what they see happening in their lives are very unusual and they don’t like it at all in so much they keep recurring.

There must be a stop, which is why, President Uhuru must stand trial. While Uhuru is in agreement that he is ready and he want to face justice to clear himself, he should not engage in compromised diplomacy where he is lobbying to extend his trial for a year.

This is wrong as "Justice Delayed is Justice Denied".................Uhuru must face justice just like Ruto has complied.............there is no short-cut to this.

President Uhuru has nothing to fear if he is clean. ICC Hague is a neutral court and shall not play any bias or discrimination.

Judy Miriga
Diaspora Spokesperson
Executive Director
Confederation Council Foundation for Africa Inc.,
USA
http://socioeconomicforum50.blogspot.com

Poll: Most Kenyans want president to stand trial

By JASON STRAZIUSO17 hours ago

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FILE - In this Friday, Sept. 27, 2013 file photo, Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta, center-left, arrives for the burial ceremony of

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — A majority of Kenyans want to see their president appear in court to face charges of crimes against humanity.

That's according a new poll Thursday that found that 67 percent of 2,060 Kenyans surveyed think President Uhuru Kenyatta should attend his trial at the International Criminal Court. Kenyatta faces charges related to accusations he helped orchestrate the country's 2007-2008 postelection violence that saw more than 1,000 people killed.

Kenyatta has successfully rallied leaders across Africa to denounce The Hague, Netherlands-based, court as an institution that unfairly targets Africans. Last month the continental body, the African Union, said the ICC should delay its trial of Kenya's president, in part because Kenya faces increased security challenges after September's militant attack on Nairobi's Westgate Mall that killed 67 people.

A draft resolution before the U.N. Security Council requests ICC "to defer the investigation and prosecution against President Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta and Deputy President William Samoei Ruto for a period of 12 months."

China's U.N. Ambassador Liu Jieyi, the current Security Council president whose country supports the resolution, said that barring last-minute changes there will be a vote Friday.

Diplomats say the draft resolution appears doomed, with only seven of the 15 council members known to be supporting it. It would need nine votes to pass, and even then it could be vetoed by strong ICC supporters Britain or France.

Amnesty International is urging the council to vote against a deferral, saying victims of Kenya's 2007-2008 postelection violence have waited too long for justice.

"It would be a shame if Security Council members prioritized the personal interests of political leaders over those of victims of crimes against humanity," said Tawanda Hondora, deputy director of law and policy at Amnesty International.

Kenyans in recent months have watched ICC proceedings against Ruto, who also faces charges for his alleged role in directing postelection violence.

John Githongo — a former Kenyan government adviser who exposed massive government corruption — said Ruto's televised trial may have contributed to a feeling in Kenya that the proceedings are fair.

"The African Union leaders' club is very different from the African people," Githongo said, adding later: "It's a bunch of millionaires, some of whom killed a lot of people to get into that club," citing coups, vote manipulations and the extra-long stays in power by some African presidents.

"You'll find the interest of ordinary Africans tend to revolve around issues of accountability, corruption, equity. ... It should not be assumed their leaders would share their enthusiasm, especially for accountability."

The South Africa-based Institute for Security Studies said this week that the African Union position argues that having Kenyatta and Ruto sit at trial undermines their duties. But the institute noted that the Rome Statute that created the ICC does not grant immunity for heads of state or other government officials.

The ICC charged Kenyatta and Ruto with crimes against humanity, including murder, forcible population transfer and persecution, for their alleged roles in postelection violence that left more than 1,000 people dead in late 2007 and early 2008. Kenyatta also is accused of responsibility for rape and other inhumane acts carried out by a criminal gang known as the Mungiki, which was allegedly under his control.

Kenyatta — who was elected president earlier this year, even though he had been indicted by the ICC — insists he is innocent, as does Ruto. Kenyatta's lawyers have called for the case against him to be delayed or dropped, saying the evidence is tainted by false testimony from prosecution witnesses.

Richard Dicker of Human Rights Watch said Kenya and Sudan, at an African Union summit this month, will try to persuade African countries to withdraw from the Rome Statute. He said Rwanda, which is pushing for the Security Council vote, and to a lesser extent Uganda fear the ICC could indict their leaders for supporting M23 rebels in Congo.

Thursday's poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points.

___

Associated Press reporter Peter James Spielmann at the United Nations contributed to this report.

• Society & Culture
• Crime & Justice
• Uhuru Kenyatta
• African Union
• International Criminal Court
• crimes against humanity
• William Samoei Ruto

COMMENTS:

DeeDee14 hours ago

Uhuru Kenyatta never said he did not want to want to stand trial. He asked for a different date for the procedures after the Westgate terror attack. THere a diffference beteween someone who does not want to be judged and someone asking for a delay because they have to take care of State's affairs. As for the poll you can get any result you want in a poll in Africa. It depends on who you poll and in what neighborhood you do it. Africans tend to stick to their tribesmen, even in big cities!

Joe11 hours ago

If only we could get OUR Kenyan president to stand trial. (before you liberals get your intestines in a knot - that was a joke)

Jay8117 hours ago

I didn't see anything on the Kenyan government selling off their nations mining rights
and only getting 10% of what is mined. Think that might upset some citizens of Kenya??

Commenter16 hours ago

i'm an advocate of like most kenyans . . i want the president to stand trial as well!

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Collapse Replies (3) Reply

Kay16 hours ago

I am with you on this one

nduf15 hours ago

Yes, he should stand trial!!!

Kei8 hours ago

"Kenyatta also is accused of responsibility for rape and other inhumane acts carried out by a criminal gang known as the Mungiki, which was allegedly under his control." In 2002 the vicious Mungiki outfit marched openly in the streets of Nairobi in support of Uhuru. Uhuru was then a prominent politician and a high ranking official in Kenya's government. "Marched openly"? Note that at the time, Mungiki was still an outlawed/proscribed terrorist group in Kenya whose members were subject to immediate apprehension - using deadly force if necessary. But they marched publicly in support of Uhuru. After days of outcry, Uhuru submitted a muted, half-hearted statement of "dissociation" from the group. Regarding the post-election violence of 2008, Uhuru, then a deputy prime minister in the government, outlined his role and involvement with vigilante including prior knowledge funding at one of his public rallies among his tribesmen. NO - he did not, as you may expect, urgently notify the lawful security organs in charge of Kenya's security matters in the government he served. He joined and enabled the vigilante in the rape, torture, mutilation and slaughter of Kenyans. The rally was attended by leading members of his tribe - as well as Mr Ruto and the attorney general of Kenya at the time. Of course Uhuru is a worried man indeed.

Kei8 hours ago

Of course Uhuru's supremacist tribesmen who control every aspect of life in Kenya - political, social, economic, land, financial, health, mineral/oil etc.- are so pious about Uhuru's innocence even as they know otherwise. And they gloat about the "tyranny of numbers" to see their supremacists agenda through. So, what future do we see for this entity called Kenya? Which Kenyans are the children of a lesser tribal god - and thus are condemned to a life of the wretched of the earth?

Kei17 hours ago

Criminals would swear that they are innocent - if they can get away with it. That is why we need the courts - to establish the 'truth' of the matter. The courts are NOT a waste of time. The cases against three other indicted Kenyans were dropped by the ICC a few months ago. If this thug Uhuru is innocent, or whatever he did does not amount to heinous crimes against humanity, then he has nothing to fear. For months, he sowed fear in innocent villagers who huddled in terror in the night waiting and listening for his agents of death. Is he now terrified?

Kei17 hours ago

Human monsters did their thing in England's Tower of London AND Europeans' prisoner camps during WW2 and in Pol Pot's Cambodian villages in 1960s AND in the concentration camps manned by the enlightened democratic westerners which were scattered all over the world in early 2000s. The detached rape, torture and killings of innocent humans like you and I. Most of us may silently wonder in horror how a psychopathic monster and cold-blooded killer may look like. Strangely, they look - like normal people. And they have names too. Take a closer look at this one pictured here and named Uhuru.

Kei17 hours ago

There is a time for everything under heaven, so we are told. And some believe that there is always a first time. There was the very first case at the ICC after its formation. There was a first trial of an indicted ex-leader. Now is the time for the first trial of a sitting leader at the ICC.