The Big Three had wanted the trials  which could include six ministers  to be carried out on the Kenyan soil.
As they crestfallenly walked out of the chamber, the stunned nation began asking the hard question  what went wrong?
The questions the defeat of the Bill triggered are many:
• Could it be that the three have lost control of their parties and
their grip in the management of national affairs has loosened?
• Could they have failed to read the mood in the country and
underestimated the nation's distrust of a tribunal that could be
hostage to the local politics?
Is it that Parliament has become too awesome and overwhelming for the
Executive and the defeat is a sign that it could still flex its muscles
further to the detriment of the union of convenience that the coalition
is turning out to be? Are those for The Hague propelled by partisan
interests, such as knocking some of the ministers off the presidential
race in 2012?
Or could they have known they were squeezing a stone for water but
chose to play to the gallery to please the international community?
Finally, could any of them have been pulling in the other direction
even as they gave the nation the face of a leadership committed to the
Bill?
The nation's top leaders failed to whip the members of their parties
despite a flurry of meetings with MPs and their presence in Parliament
to cast the vote. The Bill fell on the face while the Chief Prosecutor
of the International Criminal Court Luis Moreno-Ocampo said he was
keenly watching events in Kenya. Diplomats warmed up to the idea of a
local special tribunal, insulated against interference by law, buoyed
by the belief that Kenya's case was not too grave to deserve ICC's
attention.
The man who mediated the unity pact signed on February 28  silencing
the waves of killings, displacements and dispossessions across the
country  Dr Kofi Annan, regretted the defeat. He subtly warned Kenyans
ICC could soon be knocking, impunity must end and the perpetrators of
the violence must be brought to account. Despite being the Leader of
Government Business, all the MPs in Kalonzo's ODM-Kenya  except three
who hold Cabinet posts  voted against the Bill.
Kibaki and Raila's troops in the House broke ranks and went to vote
with the Nay' side. After the Bill was lost at the 101 votes against
93, NairobiMetropolitan Minister Mutula Kilonzo said the President and
the PM should resign because they had failed to show leadership. No one
reprimanded him, not even the Big Two.
The defeat opened another front in the national debate: Is another
force that is independent of the Big Three emerging and is a silent'
revolution taking place in the backstage? Whatever the answer, the
defeat could turn out to be a yellow' card shown to Kibaki, Kalonzo
and Raila.
It is a pointer to waning trust the coalition kings mean what they say.
The anger could have been exacerbated by the lacklustre manner of the
Government in the war against corruption  which currently has pinned
two ministers to the wall  Mr William Ruto (Agriculture) and Mr
Kiraitu Murungi (Energy).
The nation has been left with opinion sharply divided. The parliamentary process itself was fraught
with manipulation to let off the key suspects. It was Cabinet Minister
John Michuki who spilt the beans in Parliament when during debate on
the Bill said Kenyans should fight for a tribunal that they could
manage and keep in control.
Some MPs interviewed said the defeat and the subsequent blamegame
pointed to incongruity in the Grand Coalition Government that has
refused to gel one year down the line despite a public show of unity
between the principals.
In a candid admission of the crisis the Government faces, the MPs said
the mood in Parliament is palpable, which is increasingly making it
impossible for Kibaki and Raila to marshal support to pass Bills
despite intense lobbying that sometimes condones bribery.
The setback came hardly a month after the House was recalled from
Christmas break to fast-track the implementation of the recommendations
of the Commission of Inquiry into Post-election Violence (Cipev), among
them setting up a Special Tribunal to try the violence perpetrators.
The defeat has temporarily stalled the implementation of Agenda Item
Four of the Kenya National Dialogue Reconciliation (KNDR) talks.
Speaking to The Standard on Sunday, Water Minster Charity Ngilu accused
some Cabinet colleagues  whose number Justice Minister Martha Karua
gave as six on the same day the Motion was defeated  of conniving to
frustrate efforts to address crimes against humanity, impunity and
human rights abuses committed by poll violence instigators.
"Nobody should blame Kibaki or Raila for the defeat of the motion. Some ministers on the Kibaki side of
the coalition government messed up in their utterances during debate,"
Ngilu said, singling out Michuki. The biggest question of the day
however remains: What does this mean for Kibaki, Raila and Kalonzo and
what does the future portend for their tripartite alliance that was
grudgingly reached?
Standard
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