The Kenyan government now wants former International Criminal Court (ICC) and former prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo investigated on their roles in cases against six Kenyans.
Mr. Ocampo named six individual who were believed to have initiated the 2007/08 post election violence leading to the death of at least 1,300 people and displacement of more than 600,000.
At the time of the violence, Mr Kenyatta was the deputy prime minister while DP Ruto was an official in ODM.
The others he named were former Head of Public Service Francis Muthaura and then Police Commissioner Maj. Gen. (Rtd) Hussein Ali, the then Industrialisation minister Henry Kosgey and radio journalist Joshua Sang.
According to Solicitor-general Ken Ogeto “The allegations against the former prosecutor should not be swept under the carpet. Kenya urges the Office of the Prosecutor to refer the allegations to a neutral entity to conduct an open and transparent audit of these allegations.”
Mr. Ogeto is currently leading the the Kenyan delegation at the 17th session of the Assembly of States Parties (ASP) to the Rome Statute at the ICC in The Hague, The Netherlands.
In addition he said, “The integrity of the ICC is key for member states to have confidence in the court. We take the investigations very seriously and want them done openly and expeditiously so that the findings can inform our future engagements with the court.”
The cases of the six were later withdrawn after key witnesses pulled out while others recanted their evidence.
According to Ocampo several international media that the cases against the six Kenyans were weak.
“It was a mess,I fought with all of my guys because I was involved in everything. All of us were totally emotionally involved. If not, you’re not there,” said, Mr Ocampo
Mr Ogeto told the assembly that Kenya welcomes efforts by Ms Bensouda to institute investigations and take action against those found culpable.
On the execution of arrest warrants against heads of States, Kenya threw its weight behind the African Union (AU) position for enjoyment of immunity from prosecution based on the customary international law.
The county objected to any increase in the ICC budget for 2019 saying that it was not merited.
Kenya instead called for better use of resources and the interrogation of all the activities of the court, especially in preliminary examinations of cases.
“Kenya is convinced that keeping cases alive despite apparent flaws, in the manner in which they are investigated and prosecuted, not only amounts to a misappropriation of funds but also a travesty of the Rome Statute system,” Mr Ogeto said.