THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT (ICC), IMPUNITY AND THE RISE OF A SIEGE MENTALITY AMONG KENYA’S KLEPTOCRACY

Abstract

Did the entry by the International Criminal Court (ICC) into the 2007-2008 postelection dispute ruffle feathers among Kenya’s politicians and influence the results of the 2013 elections? This article argues that the indictment of prominent Kenyans by the ICC for atrocities committed during the postelection violence was the first attempt to break a vicious cycle of impunity deeply entrenched in the country’s body politic. However, the indictees exploited cases against them to exacerbate ethnic fault lines, polarise the country and ensure the controversial victory by Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto during the 2013 elections despite facing egregious charges before the ICC. Crucially, the ICC precipitated uncertainty and trepidation among Kenya’s kleptocrats in power since 1963, the year of Kenya’s independence. Kenyatta’s controversial presidential victory in 2013 was both personal and oligarchic as it ensured continued stranglehold on Kenya’s political and economic spheres by a self-reporuding plutocracy. With control of state apparatus, Kenyatta and Ruto successfully fought back against the threat posed by the ICC. The article analyses ICC politics impunity, and ethnic politics through the prism of Kenya’s cases before the ICC.