Kenyans accused by ICC resign government posts

Jan 26, 2012, 16:27 GMT

Nairobi - Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki has accepted the resignations of two high-profile Kenyans accused of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC), his office said in a statement Thursday.

Uhuru Kenyatta, son of Kenya's first president, resigned as finance minister, although he would keep his post of deputy prime minister 'in line with the constitution,' according to the statement.

Civil service head Francis Muthaura also stepped down, the president's office said.

The two men were among four Kenyans who had charges against them confirmed by ICC judges on Monday.

More than 1,300 people died in tribal violence that followed disputed elections in December 2007. The bloodshed ended in March 2008 when opposition leader Raila Odinga, who had accused Kibaki of stealing the elections, accepted the post of prime minister in a coalition government.

The attorney general said Tuesday the men need not resign until their appeal had been heard, despite Kenya's constitution stipulating politicians facing criminal charge must step aside.

However, many Kenyans had expressed the opinion that the men must quit.

Kenyatta, considered the political leader of the East African nation's largest tribe, the Kikuyu, is accused of mobilizing the Mungiki - a Kikuyu criminal gang - to carry out revenge attacks on the Kalenjin and Luo tribes, which backed Odinga. Muthaura faces similar charges.

William Ruto, a former minister, and radio show host Joshua Arap Sang were the other two named Monday as having a case to answer in The Hague.

Ruto - an Odinga ally at the time of the violence - is accused of organizing attacks on largely Kikuyu supporters of Kibaki's Party of National Unity.

The deputy premier and Ruto, who commands the support of millions of voters from his Kalenjin tribe, are considered a strong presidential candidate and kingmaker respectively in elections mooted for March 2013.

Both men have proclaimed their innocence, saying they will appeal the ruling and contest the election.

'I would like to reiterate before the people of Kenya and before the entire world, that my conscience is clear, has been clear and will always remain clear that I am innocent of all the accusations that have been leveled against me,' Kenyatta said in a statement after the ICC ruling.

Two other men who were referred to The Hague by outgoing Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo were told on Monday that there was not enough evidence to try them.

Henry Kosgey, who was minister for industrialization and is a senior member of Odinga's party, and former police chief Major General Ali Hussein, were also accused of crimes against humanity.