This is totally outrageous!
So our government has a rare chance to send one of our best and brightest to the International Criminal Court (ICC), and who do they nominate instead? Someone who has been accused of corruption and was indeed named in the Ringera List of Shame and who chose to resign rather than clear her name and defend herself against the allegations against her.
Professor Makau Mutua has just released the following press statement in protest:
I would like to express shock and outrage, as the Chairman of the Kenya Human Rights Commission, at the nomination of Effie Owour, formally a Judge of the Court of Appeal of the Republic of Kenya, to the bench of the International Criminal Court. The ICC is the world’s only permanent international court with the mandate to prosecute suspects for war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity. It is therefore non-negotiable that judges of the ICC possess the most sterling legal and human rights credentials. Nominees to the ICC must be excellent legal thinkers and have the highest moral standing among their colleagues and in their countries of origin. Judges on the ICC cannot have been implicated in or suspected of any impropriety or corruption. Nor can theey be incompetent.
Kenyans will recall that Justice Owuor was sacked from the judiciary by President Kibaki on the recommendation of the Ringera panel. The Ringera panel looked into allegations of corruption, incompetence, and other improprieties involving Kenya’s judiciary and recommendation the dismissal of many of his colleagues on these grounds. Some of those named challenged their dismissals before tribunals. Justice Owuor was not one of them.
It is shocking and a stain on Kenya that a judge that had been sacked by her country — following an exhaustive investigation, whose conclusions she did not challenge — can be nominated for the world’s top international criminal court. Why does our country only insist on rewarding those who are mediocre, incompetent, and corrupt? Why does the Republic of Kenya besmirth the good name of its citizens by putting a candidate with a questionable and dubious background before the ICC?
I am troubled by our country’s culture of anti-intellectualism and graft. The are numeruous Kenyans — both men and women — who are eminently qualified to sit on the ICC. Think of Dr. Githu Muigai, Dr. Willy Mutunga, Ms. Betty Murungi, Mr. Pheroze Nowrojee, Mr. Nzamba Kitonga, Justice Martha Koome, Ms. Raychelle Omamo, and many others who would have made serious nominees. Yet they were passed over a person with a shady background. If she becomes a justice of the ICC, how will Ms. Owuor explain her dismissal from Kenya’s judiciary? Kenya has many eminent and exceptionally qualified lawyers. It did not have to insult the country’s integrity by nominating Effie Owour.
Makau Mutua
Chaiman, Kenya Human Rights Commission
Professor of Law
Director, Human Rights Center
State University of New York
Buffalo Law School
I thought it was her. . .wasn’t sure. It is a shame, really. Makes us look like we don’t understand the need for integrity etc. in the structures/processes meant to administer justice. I’m disgusted!:eek: 😮
😳 It’s times like these i get embarassed to be a Kenyan! is the government KIDDING?!!!!
Talk about shooting ourselves in the foot! These people CANNOT be serious.
Effie is a good choice.ALLEGATIONS were never proved.That she did not face a tribunal does not make her guilty.The purge on the judiciary was a typical tribal witch hunt common in Africa.Look at the architect of the purge,kiraitu murungi former minister for justice he has not presided over any meaningful prosecutions since kibaki came to power!oh! angloleasing scandle hangs on his neck!Effie take the job!
Uummm…perhaps you need to talk to a few lawyers who practiced before her, especially during her days as a magistrate. Waki faced and challenged the tribunal, Effie could have done the same thing.
The culprit here is not Kiraitu Murungi but our ever smilling Mkuu wa Sheria Amos S Wako EGH, SC. Our AG is a disaster waiting to happen. We should not expect anything good from the state law office as long as he is the AG. God save Kenya!
thank you dear sir for your very erroneous testimony on one of Africa’s greatest law makers. Your article reeks of ignorance and perhaps i challenge you to look at the woman’s history to see the mark she has made on this nation. or you could do the simpler thing and rot in your own ignorance…
For once I agree with Makau Mutua. Effie Owuor is an embarassment as our nominee to the ICC. A part from the corruption charges which she conveniently avoided by resigning, Ms Owuor was a well known hatchet woman for Moi during the dark days of terror and repression.
If we ever were to do things properly in Kenya, Effie might end up trying he r own boss. There is no doubt in my mind that Moi is an international criminal who presided over massive human rights abuses including murder, assasinations, torture and ethnic cleansing.
We may choose to spare him the infamy of facing up to his crimes, but it is inconcievable that one of the tools he used in that process is now our rep at the ICC.
Actually come to think of it it makes a lot of sense. The Kibaki fraud will keep unravelling before us until one day we will have enough guts to stand up to it. I can’t wait.
Adongo
judge effie how are you/? UKO WAPI PLS CONTACT US , WE ARE LEAVING FOR CANADA WITH RISHARD , GOD BLESS YOU ALL. MY MOBILE NO. 0721297817
NO NO ITS NOT TRUE . jUDGE WAS A WELL ORGANISED PERSON. SHE HEADED THE TASK FORCE FOR LAWS RELATING TO WOMEN . SHE IS A SISTER, MOTHER AND A FRIEND TOO MANY.
[…] ST Sub-Saharan Africa Kenya Global Roundups Kenyan Pundit expresses disappointment at the nomination of Effie Owour to the ICC (International Criminal Court). ….”So our go […]
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