Message from President Uhuru Kenyatta. Today I addressed a special joint session of Parliament attended by both the National Assembly and Senate. I will not subject the sovereignty of Kenya to any other jurisdiction on account of my attendance of the ICC Status Conference. I invoked Article 147(3) of the Constitution, and appointed Deputy President William Ruto as Acting President while I attend the status conference in the Netherlands. Let it not be said that I am attending the Status Conference as the President of the Republic of Kenya. Nothing in my position or my deeds as President warrants my being in court. To all those who are concerned that my personal attendance of the Status Conference compromises the sovereignty of our people, or sets a precedent for the attendance of presidents before the court – be reassured, this is not the case. My decision to attend the status conference at The Hague should not raise confusion and anxiety but instead make Kenyans proud of the democracy they have built, and the law-abiding country Kenya has become. This is also a time for Kenyans to deliberate together on how to collectively realise the great destiny that beckons. I wish to reiterate here for all that my conscience is clear, has been clear, and will remain forever clear that I am innocent of all the accusations that have been leveled against me. Kenya’s diplomacy has been driven by the desire for a level playing field, on which all nations and their peoples are equal in respect of their sovereignty. This is why Kenya played a crucial leadership role in the negotiations that led to the creation of the ICC through the Rome Statute, as well as in mobilising African states to sign up to it. It was because we believed then, as we do now, that in an unequal world, only a common set of rules governing international conduct could keep anarchy at bay.
Posted on: Tue, 07 Oct 2014 10:24:42 +0000