FILE – In this Saturday, March 2, 2013 file photo, Kenyan Presidential candidate Uhuru Kenyatta waves to the crowd from the sunroof of his vehicle as he arrives for the final election rally of The National Alliance party at Uhuru Park in Nairobi, Kenya. Kenya’s Supreme Court on Saturday, March 30, 2013 upheld the election of Uhuru Kenyatta as the country’s next president, in a verdict on a petition by candidate Raila Odinga appealing the election result, ending an election season that riveted the nation amid fears of a repeat of the 2007-08 postelection violence. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenya’s powerbrokers and voters carried out a mostly violence-free election five years after tribal clashes ripped apart the country. The next big scheduled event: The trials of the new president and deputy president before the International Criminal Court.
President-elect Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President-elect William Ruto both face trials later this year at the ICC in The Hague on charges of crimes against humanity over allegations they helped orchestrate the vicious tribal attacks that followed Kenya’s 2007 election.
J. Peter Pham, an Africa specialist at the Atlantic Council, a Washington, D.C. think tank, said Tuesday that the ICC case “threatens to turn into an embarrassing fiasco” that could irreparably harm the court’s image. Many across Africa believe it’s unfair that the ICC has only prosecuted Africans.
