Kenya’s local media reports that the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Luis Moreno-Ocampo, is scheduled to arrive in the country this weekend to spearhead investigations into the 2007 post-election violence.
Douglas Mutua, a journalist with the Nations Media group said Kenyans have been demanding justice since the end of the electoral violence that led to the loss of lives and properties.
“Moreno-Ocampo will be coming to Kenya on Saturday this week to see victims of the post-election violence and even people who think they are among the suspects,” he said.
The chief prosecutor is scheduled to officially launch an inquiry into Kenya’s post-election violence that led to the deaths of at least 1133 and displaced over 600,000 people.
The chief prosecutor has reportedly expressed the wish to have suspects of the post-election violence arrested next year ahead of their trial scheduled for 2012.
Mutua said Kenyans are eagerly awaiting the chief prosecutor’s arrival.
“Generally, Kenyans are seeing a situation whereby they would be getting justice. Justice will be done because they already know that Moreno-Ocampo earlier announced that he had 20 suspects that he will be investigating. So, they are seeing a situation whereby the ICC has taken up this case seriously, and they are bound to benefit,” Mutua said.
Kenya’s government has so far agreed to cooperate with the ICC’s chief prosecutor investigations into the electoral violence.
But, Mutua said government officials seem reluctant to comment on Moreno-Ocampo’s arrival.
“The leadership is kind of scared because they are not discussing the issue in public. You know the main culprits here would be politicians and I believe that most of them fear a bit to talk so boldly about the statement Moreno-Ocampo is making because they may be suspects. No one has ruled out that the president and the prime minister will be suspects because whatever happened in this country in that period was because of the two,” Mutua said.
