Dr John Ruhangisa

The East Africa Court of Justice (EACJ) is seeking extension of jurisdiction to handle the case of some Kenyan politicians indicted at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, in connection to the 2008 post-election violence at Arusha chambers of EACJ.

According to the EACJ Registrar, Dr John Ruhangisa the court which is a product of the Treaty for the establishment of the East African Community has currently limited jurisdiction preventing it to handle regional matters.  “The EAC treaty is being amended, a process which is at an advanced stage under the partner states’ Attorney General offices,” he explained.

However, Dr Ruhangisa added that it would take just two weeks for such article to be amended to enable EACJ reclaim regional cases from the ICC. Article 30 to 33 of the treaty prevents the EACJ to interfere with internal political affairs of individual member states, placing such matters entirely onto the jurisdiction of national courts.

“The reason why The Hague had to step in the Kenyan issue in the first place, was because of lack of proper action to address the issue in the region and the International community cannot keep quiet over crime against humanity and other cases of impunity,” said Dr Ruhangisa.

“There have been proposals from citizens of the member states as well as civil organizations, especially in the wake of recent charges against some Kenyan leaders at the International Criminal Court, that cases arising from conflicts within member states should be dealt with locally,” said Dr Ruhangisa.

Partner States should amend the treaty for the establishment of the East African Community to give the EACJ jurisdiction over regional cases,” explained Dr Ruhangisa, who added that Kenyan leaders facing charges at the International Criminal Court stood better chance of fair trials in Arusha.

The ICC is accusing Mr Uhuru Kenyatta, Deputy Prime Minister, the influential former MP Mr William Ruto and Ambassador Francis Muthaura, head of the Kenya Public Service, as well as Mr Joshua Sang, a radio journalist, of inciting chaos following the country’s elections of December 2007.

“We support the ICC efforts in dealing with impunity among despot leaders in the world, but for the case of Kenya, some local environmental factors must be considered in order to issue better judgment to the alleged offenders,” he said. The EACJ Registrar explained that, international communities did not trust national courts to handle cases of conflicts related to politics, especially where the suspects still hold office, as the latter could easily manipulate their rulings.

“But a regional court is more supreme in this angle on that it cannot be influenced by a single member state,” said Dr Ruhangisa pointing out that, even some local leaders here feared the EACJ on grounds that they could not control it. “The EACJ has possibly the highly qualified and most respected judges in the Region there is no need to refer our problems abroad,” said its registrar.

Dr Ruhangisa said the limited EACJ mandate also prevents the court from inheriting cases from the Arusha-based, UN-International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) which is in the process of winding up here. A few months ago, in Nairobi the East African Deputy Secretary General, in-charge of political federation, Hon Beatrice Kiraso also reinstated that the Arusha-based East African Court of Justice should handle Kenya’s post-election violence cases instead of the Hague-based ICC. ”

The International Criminal Court had no right to interfere with Kenya’s internal affairs matters knowing very well that the country is member of a recognized regional body which has a fully fledged judicial jurisdiction,” said Ms Kiraso adding that the East African Court of Justice is fully equipped to handle such matters.

“Our treaty covers everything that the ICC is using to raise a case against some Kenyan individuals and leaders and the EACJ has been fully equipped as well as mandated to deal with such issues,” stated Ms Kiraso pointing out that it was high time the international community’s started to respect local community organizations being set up in Africa.

“The treaty for the establishment of the East African Community addresses issues related to rules of law, human rights, good governance and conflict resolutions and the EACJ is mandated to deal with all matters arising from them, so what is the logic to let the ICC in the Hague deal with Kenya’s political violence instead of having these cases sent to EACJ in Arusha?” asked the EAC-DSG.

The East African Court of Justice (EACJ or the Court), is the judicial arm of the East African Community established under Article 9 of the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community. Operationalized in November 2001, the Court’s major responsibility is to ensure the adherence to law in the interpretation and application of and compliance with the EAC Treaty.

By MARC NKWAME, Tanzania Daily News

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