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Kenya PM still pursuing election tribunal after rejection by parliament

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga on Saturday maintained that the government was determined to form a local tribunal to address the December 2007 post-election violence, despite a defeat in the Kenyan Parliament last week. Odinga said he had discussed the situation with mediator Koffi Annan and remained hopeful that lawmakers would establish a Special Tribunal. The Commission of Inquiry on Post Election Violence (CIPEV), or Waki Commission, has set a March 1 deadline for the creation of a tribunal, after which a list of 10 high-ranking officials accused of orchestrating the violence is to be delivered to the International Criminal Court (ICC). Voting on the bills to establish the tribunal was postponed following allegations that government officials tried to bribe or blackmail MPs to gain support for the measure. More than 1,000 people were killed and 500,000 displaced by violence following allegations of fraud in the country's presidential election. The defeated bills were proposed by CIPEV in October 2008 after Odinga and President Mwai Kibaki approved a power-sharing agreement in March 2008.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on February 15, 2009 (boomark / email).