President Uhuru Kenyatta's statement that there cannot be a leadership vacuum even if he and and his deputy William Ruto are out of the country will soon be tested as he is scheduled to leave this weekend for the United Nations General Assembly even as the latter continues attending his trial at the International Criminal Court.
The 68th UN General Assembly is scheduled to be held from September 23 to 27. meaning that the President is likely to be away for a whole week.
The hearing of Ruto and radio journalist Joshua wrap Sang's crimes against humanity case started last week. The Icc has insisted that Ruto be present during all the sessions.
Constitutionally, Ruto should have taken charge in the absence of President Kenyatta. Article 147 (3) of the constitution provides that “when the President is absent or is temporarily incapacitated, and during any other period that the President decides, the Deputy President shall act as the President.”
Article 146 of the constitution contemplates Speaker of the National Assembly taking over the presidency only when a vacancy occurs in the office of the president and if the office of Deputy President is vacant, or the Deputy President is unable to assume the office of President.
Yesterday, government sources said President Kenyatta was considering designating one of the Cabinet secretaries to take charge in his absence.
Attorney General Githu Muigai had a few weeks ago said the President can delegate to any member of his cabinet. Muigai made this statement when reports of the ICC calendar indicated that both Uhuru and Ruto would be attending their cases at the same time.
“The President will still be in charge even if he will be in the far country. But he may quietly task one of the cabinet secretaries to be in his main eye of the country’s affairs,” said a government official yesterday.
Names floated include that of Devolution and Planning Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru and Secretary to the Cabinet Francis Kimemia.
Yesterday, President Uhuru’s advisor on political affairs Joshua Kutuny said consultations were going on to decide whether or not to advise Uhuru to attend the UNGA with his deputy at the Hague.
“Even the UN General Assembly is well aware that the deputy president of Kenya is away at the Hague. Certainly, the president cannot be away when his deputy is also away. Kenya comes first for the President and the rest follows.The President is still consulting on all these issues,” said Kutuny.
Speaking at a prayer rally in Ruiru two weeks ago, a visibly angry President Kenyatta declared that there is no way he would allow both him and Ruto to be simultaneously out of the country attending the ICC trials. He declared if Ruto was away, he must be in the country and vice versa.
“I am talking with authority as the president and not as an ICC suspect. There is no way the two of us will be away. We are a sovereign nation and are willing to cooperate. But we are only willing to cooperate with the ICC if they respect us,” Uhuru said then.
Prior to this, Uhuru has repeatedly said that there cannot be leadership vacuum even if he and Ruto are both out of the country.
He is on record stating that those making such claims were hoping it would give them an opportunity to step into the leadership when he and Ruto were away and urged such people to forget and concentrate on other issues.
The Africa Union has also waded into the issue of President Kenyatta attending the UN Assembly with his deputy hold up at the Hague for the trial.
In a letter to the ICC president, the AU warned that the Kenya’s president will be prevented from meeting his international obligations due to the ongoing cases at the Hague.
“During the absence of the Deputy President at the trial, the President of Kenya will automatically be prevented from meeting his international obligations. These include the forthcoming United Nations General Assembly High Level Segment,” the AU has said in its letter to ICC in which it was also seeking to have the cases referred to Kenya.
The AU said Uhuru had already missed another meeting —the “New Deal Somalia Conference”— which took place in Brussels on September 16. The AU has insisted that the cases facing the Kenya’s leaders must be halted or referred to Kenya.
The theme of the 68th UN General Assembly is “The Post-2015 Development Agenda: Setting the Stage”.
During the session, the member states will focus on the contribution of human rights and the rule of law to the post-2015 framework, particularly the establishment of an appropriate framework to ensure that human rights, rule-of-law and good governance practices are anchored. The assembly will also tackle South-South and triangular cooperation between the nations.
The South-South cooperation on development aims to observe the principle of non-interference in internal affairs, equality among developing partners and respect for their independence, national sovereignty, cultural diversity and identity and local content.
The conference comes at a time when the AU is at loggerhead with ICC over the prosecution Kenya leaders. The AU has also indicated its intention to withdraw from the Rome Statute which establishes the court.