Annan conspicuously missing from event

  

Mr Kofi Annan leaves Serena Hotel, Nairobi, in 2010. He was conspicuously missing during the swearing of Kenya's fourth president.  NATION

By NATION REPORTER
Posted  Tuesday, April 9  2013 at  23:30

 

A key person missing during President Uhuru Kenyatta’s swearing-in ceremony on Tuesday was Mr Kofi Annan who mediated the formation of the Grand Coalition Government after the 2007 presidential elections.

Also missing were members of Mr Annan’s African Union Panel of Eminent Personalities, among them Graça Machel and Benjamin Mkapa. The team brokered the coalition government deal.

Just before the General Election, Mr Annan called for a peaceful handover of power.

“My wish for Kenya in the year ahead is a commitment by all to a free, fair and credible election and a transition marked by peace and the rule of law,” he said in his New Year message to Kenyans.

Last December, the former UN secretary-general triggered a storm when he urged Kenyans not to elect politicians indicted by the International Criminal Court.

Though he did not name President Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto, who are facing crimes against humanity charges at The Hague, Mr Annan told the BBC that electing such leaders would sour Kenya’s relations with the international community.

Mr Annan said then that it was “not in the interest of the country” for the electorate to elect a leader who will not be able to freely interact with the rest of the world, including travelling to some countries.”

His views elicited sharp reactions from supporters of President Kenyatta’s The National Alliance party and those of Mr Ruto’s United Republican Party.

Did not show up

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who had been invited, also did not show up. On Monday, Government spokesman Muthui Kariuki said he had indicated he would not attend.

This came as some lawyers petitioned Attorney-General Githu Muigai to arrest and hand him over to The Hague, if he attended.

The Kenya chapter of the International Commission of Jurists warned that the country would be failing in its duties as a member state of the treaty establishing the ICC if it allowed President al-Bashir, an indictee of The Hague, safe entry and exit.

Missing too were the Cord top brass — former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, former Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka and Bungoma Senator Moses Wetang’ula — who are in South Africa for “a rest” after the March 4 election.