AFRICAN UNION
UNION AFRICAINE
UNIÃO AFRICANA
 
PANEL OF EMINENT AFRICAN PERSONALITIES
 
Press Release issued by H.E. Mr. Kofi Annan
 
Mr. Kofi Annan, Chairman of the AU Panel of Eminent African Personalities, today informed President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga that the Panel had transmitted to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court the sealed envelope and supporting materials entrusted to him by the Waki Commission on 17th October 2008.

 The Panel made this decision in light of the recent agreement reached by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Mr. Luis Moreno-Ocampo, and the delegation of the Government of Kenya comprising the Hon. Mutula Kilonzo, Minister of Justice, the Hon. James Orengo, Minister of Lands, and Hon. Amos Wako, Attorney General, on 3rd July 2009. 

Speaking from Geneva, Mr Annan “welcomed the Government of Kenya's renewed efforts to implement the recommendations of the Waki Commission and to establish a Special Tribunal”, but added that, "any judicial mechanism adopted to bring the perpetrators of the post-election violence to justice must meet international legal standards and be broadly debated with all sectors of the Kenyan society in order to bring credibility to the process."

The Panel "reaffirms its conviction that combating impunity and bringing to justice the perpetrators of the post-election violence in Kenya is fundamental for the country’s reform agenda."

Mr Annan added that, "Justice delayed is justice denied.  The people of Kenya want to see concrete progress on impunity. Without such progress, the reconciliation between ethnic groups and the long-term stability of Kenya is in jeopardy."  

Mr. Annan and the other members of the Panel, Mr. Benjamin Mkapa, former President of Tanzania, and Mrs. Graça Machel of Mozambique, reiterated their firm commitment to support efforts to implement the comprehensive reform programme under the Kenyan National Dialogue and Reconciliation process.