Kenya PM still pursuing election tribunal after rejection by parliament News
Kenya PM still pursuing election tribunal after rejection by parliament

[JURIST] Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga [official website] on Saturday maintained [press release] that the government was determined to form a local tribunal to address the December 2007 post-election violence [JURIST report], despite a defeat [JURIST report] in the Kenyan Parliament [official website] last week. Odinga said he had discussed the situation with mediator Koffi Annan [official profile] and remained hopeful that lawmakers would establish a Special Tribunal. The Commission of Inquiry on Post Election Violence (CIPEV), or Waki Commission, has set a March 1 deadline for the creation of a tribunal, after which a list of 10 high-ranking officials accused of orchestrating the violence is to be delivered to the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website].

Voting on the bills to establish the tribunal was postponed [JURIST report] following allegations that government officials tried to bribe or blackmail MPs to gain support for the measure. More than 1,000 people were killed and 500,000 displaced by violence following allegations of fraud [JURIST report] in the country's presidential election. The defeated bills were proposed by CIPEV [JURIST report] in October 2008 after Odinga and President Mwai Kibaki [official profile] approved a power-sharing agreement [JURIST report] in March 2008.

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