New York. Members of the UN Security Council
face hard choices on whether or not to defer the cases against President
Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto.
“Damned if they do, damned if they don’t. In the former case, yielding to impunity, in the latter, manifesting arrogance,” lawyer Charles Kanjama described the tricky position facing the Security Council members.
Rejection of the deferral could further distance them, particularly the US, Britain and France, from the Kenyatta administration which has continued with his predecessor Mwai Kibaki’s legacy of looking East, especially China for major trade deals.
China, which holds the rotating presidency of the Council this month, has signalled it will support the deferral.
“We fully understand the concerns of the African Union and also the concerns of the Kenyan government,” said China’s ambassador to the the United Nation Liu Jieyi said at the UN headquarters in New York.
“China supports the Security Council in actively and positively responding to the call of the AU and the Kenyan government.”
Voting in the Security Council requires that at least nine out of the 15 members support a resolution including the concurrence of the five veto-wielding members. Other veto-holders are US, Britain, France and Russia.
The temporary members of the council are Argentina, Australia, Azerbaijan, Guatemala, Luxembourg, Morocco, Pakistan, South Korea, Rwanda and Togo.
In the Horn of Africa Kenya remains important to the West in the fight against terrorism, especially in the defeat of the Al-Shabaab as well as piracy in the Indian Ocean coastline because of its vantage position to Somalia.
“Damned if they do, damned if they don’t. In the former case, yielding to impunity, in the latter, manifesting arrogance,” lawyer Charles Kanjama described the tricky position facing the Security Council members.
Rejection of the deferral could further distance them, particularly the US, Britain and France, from the Kenyatta administration which has continued with his predecessor Mwai Kibaki’s legacy of looking East, especially China for major trade deals.
China, which holds the rotating presidency of the Council this month, has signalled it will support the deferral.
“We fully understand the concerns of the African Union and also the concerns of the Kenyan government,” said China’s ambassador to the the United Nation Liu Jieyi said at the UN headquarters in New York.
“China supports the Security Council in actively and positively responding to the call of the AU and the Kenyan government.”
Voting in the Security Council requires that at least nine out of the 15 members support a resolution including the concurrence of the five veto-wielding members. Other veto-holders are US, Britain, France and Russia.
The temporary members of the council are Argentina, Australia, Azerbaijan, Guatemala, Luxembourg, Morocco, Pakistan, South Korea, Rwanda and Togo.
In the Horn of Africa Kenya remains important to the West in the fight against terrorism, especially in the defeat of the Al-Shabaab as well as piracy in the Indian Ocean coastline because of its vantage position to Somalia.
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