ICC Drops Charges Against Kenyan President Kenyatta
International Criminal Court prosecutors on Friday withdrew crimes against humanity charges against Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta but said fresh charges could be brought if new evidence is found of his involvement in post-election violence.
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said Friday he was “vindicated” after the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor dropped a case against him alleging crimes against humanity.
“I am very keen to run to my wife right now and tell her what is happening,” Kenyatta said in a message posted on Twitter, using the hashtag “vindicated”.
He vowed to fight on until two remaining cases at the ICC against Kenyans, including one against his vice president, William Ruto, are dropped.
“As they say, one case down, two more to go,” Kenyatta said in another message.
Kenyatta, 53, faced five charges including murder, rape and deportation for allegedly masterminding post-election violence in the east African country in 2007-2008 in which more than 1,200 people died and 600,000 were displaced.
Kenya fought an international campaign to put Kenyatta’s trial on hold, as well as that of his rival-turned-partner Ruto, who has been on trial at the ICC on similar charges since September 2013.
A third Kenyan, former radio journalist Joshua Arap Sang, is also on trial at the ICC.
Kenyan foreign minister Amina Mohamed said in a statement that Nairobi would support efforts to end those trials.
“We will pursue the dropping of other cases with the same energy and passion,” she said.
President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya on Friday fired two ministers amid quest to inject meritocracy and integrity required to enhance implementation of state programmes. Kenyatta fired Cabinet Secretary for Sports, Rashid Echesa and replaced him with Amina Mohamed, who used to head the education docket. Mohamed is a career diplomat,…
