The visit of the ICC leader highlights the poor relations between the ICC and Ruto and Uhuru Kenyatta

Translated from the original Swahili article in the Tanzanian Mwananchi

Since this case was presented in The Hague, there have been reports from Nairobi that the relationship between the Government of Kenya and the ICC is not good.

Recently the Chief Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, has made visits to Kenya to discuss the post-election violence which assaulted the country in 2008.

This visit has come before the start of the cases accusing the chief suspects of this violence and crimes against humanity.

In the country, Bensouda has met and held talks with the country's President, Mwai Kibaki, Prime Minister Raila Odinga, the Chief Justice and other top officials in the interim government.

Bensouda also commented Wednesday about the victims of violence and murder in the last general elections in the country, before heading into the towns of Naivasha, Nakuru and Eldoret in the Rift Valley province to meet face to face with some of the victims of this violence.

A report, which was obtained following her meetings with high ranking officials in the country, notes that Bensouda emphasized the importance of cooperation between the Government and the ICC in order to enable the court to get important information and enable the officials in her department to conduct the prosecution unhindered.

A leader from the ICC has also sought more information about the bank accounts of the four accused, who have been brought to the ICC on charges of involvement in the violence of the last general elections, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,000 people and many who were internally displaced within the country.

This individual also complained that some of the witnesses in this case are have been threatened, and some of them have begun to change the testimonies they were intending to give.

Since this case was presented in The Hague, there have been reports from Nairobi that the relationship between the Government of Kenya and the ICC is not good.

Bensouda says the suspects of post-election violence must face the hand of the law.

There have been requests from the suspects that the court delay so that they can participate in the elections expected to be held in March next year. Bensouda has rejected the request, saying that the ICC will not press or rearrange its calendar to make room for the choice of Kenya, where Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto are key participants. "There is no immunity for international crimes in the ICC. The calendar of law in the court will remain unchanged. The ICC judges are not discouraged by any political process, " says Bensouda.

Kenyatta and Ruto are key players in the coming election. These two politicians have also established partnerships in the next general elections in order to increase their chances of winning. Bensouda says that cases in The Hague will continue despite the result of the election, saying that judges have sufficient evidence to pursue the cases.

She has stressed that it is not the people of Kenya nor the government or any tribe, but ICC  who will pursue the case for justice and equality against the chief suspects.

Nevertheless, Kenyatta continues to seek support in order to delay the Kenyan Statehouse.

He tasked his colleagues, the Deputy Minister of Health and Member of Mombasa, Kambi Kazungu, Kenya's Minister of Justice Eugene Wamalwa of the New Ford Kenya party, appointed Member of Parliament for the TNA party, Ms. Rachel Shebesh TNA, Member of Parliament Moses ole Sakuda, and former Member of Parliament Abdullahi Ali to go to the State House in Dar es Salaam and ask President Jakaya Kikwete to help him in his bid for president.

Crimes Against Humanity in Kenya
The war crimes court (the ICC) is in the process of investigation of election violence in the period from 2007 to 2008.

The elections, which were held in December 2007, resulted in President Mwai Kibaki's victory. This election enraged supporters of his rival, Raila Odinga, who protested the results, and maintained that Odinga had won. Soon, protests, violence, and murder began to spread and caused the deaths of more than 1,000 people.

After the situation in the country had calmed, the matter was referred to the ICC under the leadership of Luis Moreno Ocampo. After reviewing the case, the court identified six people who must answer to charges of crimes against humanity.

These people include Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, Minister of Industry William Ruto, Secretary to the Cabinet Francis Muthaura, radio reporter Joshua Arap Sang and former Chief Commissioner of Police. The men were named on March 8, 2011 and later they were summoned to appear before the court.

The Government of Kenya and the National Assembly have tried to threaten the ICC process and have appealed to the Security Council of the United Nations and the court itself to review the case and possibly repeal it. The Parliament of Kenya has also voted to remove Kenya from the membership of the court in the Rome statute.

Despite these efforts, the defendants have cooperated with the court and arrived at  The Hague in April and September of 2011.

In January of this year, an initial hearing began with Kenyatta, Muthaura, Ruto and Sang while the court failed to prove charges against Henry Kosgei and Mohamed Ali. The case continues again in April of next year.

To read the original Swahili text, visit the Mwananchi site here