#UHURU AND #RUTO TO ATTEND #THE_HAGUE THE SAME DATE! There was concern yesterday after a new trial schedule by ICC placed both President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy, William Ruto, at The Hague at the same time. According to the schedule, Uhuru and Ruto will both attend their trials between November 12 and December 13. The demands of the international court will put the country in uncharted territory, and likely constitutional crisis. The schedule indicates that the case one involving Ruto and radio personality Joshua Sang will start at 9.30am while that of Uhuru will be heard in the afternoon. Unlike in the old Constitution where the President carried the power of office out of the country, the current Constitution provides in Article 147(3) that when the President is absent, the deputy shall act as president. Power vacuum... What the Constitution drafters failed to address is how to plug a temporary power vacuum occasioned by in a situation where both are away. In such an event where both the President and Deputy are away in The Hague, the offices remain constitutionally occupied as per Article 146 of the Constitution. The office becomes automatically vacant only in the event of two occurrences, the death of the holder or resignation. The other two ways in which the office becomes vacant are through incapacitation or impeachment, which entails a long constitutional process. Should the office fall permanently vacant at the same time, the Speaker of the National Assembly would take over and a presidential by-election held in 90 days. The Speaker does not take over when the two are out of the country even if they have travelled together. It is, however, the practicality of running the offices from The Hague that is the challenge. Constitutional petition According to Nairobi lawyer Kibe Mungai, the absence of the president and his deputy at the same time would cause “practical difficulties” in the affairs of the country. Mungai said the Constitution does not allow the two to abandon their stations at the same time. “In legal terms, the Constitution does not envisage a situation where the president and the deputy are both outside the country,” he said. The issue is already the subject of a constitutional petition filed in court on Tuesday by a lobby group, the National Conservative Forum. The group wants Uhuru and Ruto barred from attending the ICC. Through lawyer John Khaminwa and Jennifer Shamalla, they are seeking a declaration that when the President and the Deputy President are out of the country at the same time, there shall be a vacuum in governance on the part of the Executive and this shall occasion an imbalance in power. The case was slotted to be heard on Monday, by which time Ruto would already be on his way to The Hague. In the real sense of the situation, there is nothing unlawful about a Head of State and his or her deputy being out of the country together, says constitutional lawyer Soyinka Lempaa. “It’s only that our Constitution does not guide us on who should be in charge. It would even be worse if the National Assembly Speaker was to become incapacitated together with the two leaders. We could face a constitutional crisis,” he says. Acting president... Even the Constitution of the USA does not envisage a clear situation where both the president and the vice president are out at the same time. But the US Congress is charged with the power to declare which other officer shall Act as President when both offices are vacant. Under the US constitution, a president who believes he will be temporarily unable to perform the duties of his office can declare himself or herself “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his or her office.” He would do this by transmitting that declaration in writing to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate. The vice president then becomes acting president until the president declares, by another letter to the leaders of each house of Congress, that he is once again able to discharge the powers and duties of the presidency. Back in Kenya, then President Kibaki and his Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka occasionally flew out of the country at the same time for different missions. Willful member... In the present case, it’s the length and the purpose of Uhuru and Ruto’s absence that forms the present debate. According to Siaya Senator James Orengo, the country should not be held at ransom by the absence of both but should define its own way forward. However, lawyer Mungai said the ICC has a responsibility to ensure that the two cases do not stall other affairs of the country. “As a willful member of the ICC, it is the responsibility of the judges to ensure that the affairs of the Republic of Kenya are not adversely affected by the trial of an individual,” he says. “If there’s a good reason not to attend court, either of the two can fail to attend. It will be enough for them to say they cannot attend because the Constitution does not allow both of them to be out of the country at the same time. If you are receiving commands from two centres, you have a right to choose what to obey,” said Mungai.
Posted on: Sat, 07 Sep 2013 06:15:12 +0000
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