UN security council bid not linked to ICC

UN security council bid not linked to ICC - Kenya

Monday, June 3, 2013

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FOREIGN Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed yesterday denied that Kenya will vie for a non-permanent seat at the United Nations security council due the ongoing cases facing President Uhuru and his deputy William Ruto at the Hague.

She said Kenya has never been a member of the security council and it was time that the country sought the position due to the pivotal role it plays on security in the region.

Addressing a joint press conference at her office in Nairobi together with Somalia deputy Prime Minister, Fawzia Adam, Mohamed said a number of countries including Somalia and Japan had pledged to support Kenya.

"The position we are seeking at the UN security council is not linked in any way with the International Criminal Cases facing the President and his deputy at the Hague," she said.

Last month, Kenya's ambassador to UN, Macharia Kamau, in a confidential letter dated May 2, 2013 asked the security council to halt the trials saying the prosecutions could destabilise Kenya.

Kamau in a confidential letter had argued that the cases facing Uhuru, Ruto and radio presenter Joshua Sang were neither impartial nor independent. In his current visit in Yokohama, Japan, during the conference on Development in Africa, Ruto revealed on Saturday during a meeting with Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that Kenya is interested with the seat and appealed for support.

Elections for the 71st session of the UN General Assembly will be held in 2016. This is the fist time Kenya is seeking such a top position in the UN. Mr Ruto said the relationship between the two countries stem from independence and that Kenya was looking forward to further cooperation.

Abe also asked Kenya to back Japan's bid for the post in 2015. "Japan would like to request Kenya to support us in the bid for non-permanent membership for the UN in 2015,” Mr Abe said.

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