Nairobi Star (Nairobi)
Kennedy Lesiew
14 December 2011
Ambassador of the Kingdom of Netherlands to Kenya Joost Reintjes has called on the government to respect the will of the people of Kenya by promoting the spirit of constitution implementation by effecting the arrest of the Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.
Reintjes said that it is the responsibility of the international community to ensure that the wishes and aspirations of people of Kenya are taken into account by the respective government. He said that there were tell-tell signs that the executive arm of government was not committed in effecting the arrest.
A weeks ago, Foreign Affairs minister Moses Wetang’ula was quoted saying that the government will not honour the arrest warrant issued by the High Court judge Nicholas Ombija. While commenting on the issue, Reintjes said the executive arm of government should respect what the judicial arm of government says in order to avoid unnecessary anxiety that might impact negatively on the country’s image. He also observed that Kenya is obliged to execute the International Criminal Court’s warrants since it ratified the Rome statute.
On his part, the chairman of National Council of NGOs, Ken Wafula warned that the Sudanese leader risked being arrested by a daring Kenyan mob should he attempt to visit the country. “The constitution stipulates that the all sovereign power belongs to the people of Kenya and shall be exercised only in accordance with the constitution. This power can be exercised also directly if the executive arm of government fails to represent the will of the people,” Wafula said.
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