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power,” motivated “not by the imperative to do justice for victims but by the threat aparticular approach could pose to political interests in the country.” 70Yet another attempt to legislate a local tribunal, the Constitutional Amendment Bill—thistime proposed by member of parliament (MP) Gitobu Imanyara, who had led opposition tothe Karua bill—stalled in November 2009 when MPs failed to turn up in Parliament,effectively killing debate on the bill. At a scheduled parliamentary hearing on the proposedlegislation on November 11, 2009, only 18 out of 222 parliamentarians were present. 71Due to Kenya’s failure to establish a local mechanism or to refer the situation to the ICC, onNovember 26, 2009, ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo requested leave from the courtto investigate crimes against humanity in Kenya. 72 The court authorized the investigationson March 31, 2010. In December 2010, Moreno Ocampo announced that he would seeksummonses against six principal suspects: William Ruto, Henry Kosgey, and Joshua arapSang on the ODM side, and Francis Muthaura, Uhuru Kenyatta, and Hussein Ali on the PNUside. “Confirmation of charges” hearings, to determine whether the prosecutor hassufficient evidence for the cases to proceed were held in September and October 2011;decisions in the two cases were expected by January 2012. 73In a statement that proved to mark the beginning of concerted efforts to evade the ICC’sjurisdiction, President Kibaki announced on December 15—immediately following MorenoOcampo’s naming of the six suspects—that “the government is fully committed to theestablishment of a local tribunal to deal with those behind the post-election violence, inaccordance with stipulations of the new constitution.” 74 At this writing, no fresh steps hadformally been taken toward establishing a tribunal.70 Godfrey Musila, “Options for Transitional Justice in Kenya: Autonomy and the Challenge of External Presciptions,”International Journal of Transitional Justice, October 8, 2009, vol. 3, no. 3, p. 459.71 “Kenya MPs were decisive in rejecting local court,” Daily Nation (Nairobi), April 10, 2011,http://www.nation.co.ke/News/politics/MPs+were+decisive+in+rejecting+local+court+/-/1064/1142230/-/dhml7bz/-/index.html (accessed July 20, 2011). In December, MPs again failed to show up in Parliament to vote on the bill,demonstrating a lack of appetite for justice. See Caroline Wafula, “Kenya MPs shun debate on tribunal bill,” Daily Nation(Nairobi), December 2, 2009, http://www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/816280/-/vnj8oe/-/index.html.72 “ICC: Prosecutor Seeks OK on Kenya Inquiry,” Human Rights Watch news release, November 26, 2009,http://www.hrw.org/news/2009/11/26/icc-prosecutor-seeks-ok-kenya-inquiry.73 “Kenya: Q&A on Pre-Trial Hearing in First ICC Case,” Human Rights Watch news release, August 30, 2011,http://www.hrw.org/news/2011/08/30/kenya-qa-pre-trial-hearing-first-icc-case.74 Republic of Kenya, Office of Public Communications, “Statement by His Excellency the President Hon. Mwai Kibaki,”December 15, 2011, http://www.communication.go.ke/media.asp?id=1246 (accessed September 13, 2011).“TURNING PEBBLES” 24

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