Thursday, March 10, 2011

ICC Deferral...The People Get A Voice

The best thing this world provides us with is the different platforms we can use to voice our opinions and take action on things we feel matter most to us. After the last post put up on Kenya's deferral from the ICC, I was more than elated to learn that there were people out there doing what they could with the platforms available to them to speak up as Kenya's citizens as well! On Tuesday, March 8th 2011, huge strides were taken by the people for the people to make it known that we are ready to step up and give a voice to the voiceless! A peaceful protest was organized outside the UN Headquarters in NY and the message was simple: "to let the UN Secretary General know that following the VP Kalonzo's plea to defer Kenya from the ICC, we the people agree that the Hague is the best option for us right now and that deferment from the ICC was not an option we are in support of. Dj Xpect Peter amongst others organized the protest and the turn out was exceptional considering the biting cold! The protests went seamlessly and below is video footage of the protest as well as some pictures that represent determination and zeal to stand up for what we believe in! As reported by the Standard newspaper on the same day, (March 8th), our efforts have not been in vain! The ICC has issued summons to the Ocampo 6 to appear in person before the ICC pre-trial chamber judges on April 7th, 2011, failure to which the court will issue international warrants for their arrest to secure their co-operation!
All images retrieved from Facebook Pics




 Video Footage retrieved from Nation TV

5 comments:

Kigonyi Ndutha said...

i still feel this whole ICC thing is a gamble. i wonder what kenyans will do when they find out that the ICC was just being used as a ploy.
i'm all for justice against all those who masterminded the pre and post election violence but i feel kenyans are heavily dependant of others to solve thier problems. our courts and justice system are capable of doing it. they just haven't been given a chance. neither have they done a good job to prove they can be entrusted with such a task.

Gigee Nyaga said...

Kigonyi,

I agree with you in the sense that it is sad that we feel as though our only source of hope that any justice will be served is from the outside. Where I disagree with your statement is that our courts and justice system are capable of rendering the deserved justice. As it is now, our institutions including the justice system are a huge problem keeping in mind that the system is more than the rules/law the system is also the people and right now the people are the problem which takes us back to leadership. How many committees have we seen being formed and nothing come from them? Until a complete system overhaul is done, this problem will keep being just that...a problem.

Munga said...

I can hardly keep up with what is going on with my own life, I don't know where you get the time to keep up with the the current events Gigee. I am on 100% admiration of your talent.

Kigonyi Ndutha said...

Gigee,

i concur with you! an overhaul is long overdue. but we have to eat this frog one bite at a time. and i think with the justice department we need to take mouth fulls of the nasty bits first, and eat it as fast as we can so as to have a clean slate to begin with.
that being said, it should not be taken that ICC nor cleaning up the judiciary will make for miraculous occurences like all the problems will disappear in a fortnight. rome wasnt built in a day!

suave said...

Let me start off by thanking the Brave individuals who showed up for the protest, great job guys.
The so called "shuttle diplomacy" is a complete waste of tax payers money. The MP'S debated and twice they refused to form a local tribunal and opted for ICC. 85% of Kenyans support the ICC path and the perception by most is that ICC will deliver justice without bias. Simply put; the Kenyan Gov't is incapable or unwilling to prosecute the so called "perpetrators" and "masterminds" of the post election violence and there is little or no faith on the local justice system.