Johnnie Carson is a career diplomat from the United States who has served as United States Ambassador to several African nations. In 2009 he was nominated to become U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs by President Barack Obama
Jendayi Elizabeth Frazer is the former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, heading the Bureau of African Affairs.
Former United States Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer has termed the ICC case against Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta weak and based on hearsay.
She also dismissed the Kenyan cases at The Hague and accused her successor Johnnie Carson of meddling in Kenyan affairs.
She said the US should not threaten Kenya on the choice voters make, pointing out that the two cases at the International Criminal Court (ICC) have not been proven.
“I am troubled by Johnnie Carson’s statement essentially meddling in Kenya’s election,” said Frazer, who served under Bush administration from 2005 to 2009.
“It is reckless and irresponsible, given that the election is very close, for us to try to intervene in Kenya’s election decision,” she said.
She added: “I think the ICC case against Uhuru Kenyatta is a weak one and is based on hearsay.”
Manipulated
Carson had warned Kenya that March 4th General Election outcome would have consequences.
But speaking to The Standard on Saturday on phone, former NGO Council Chairman Ken Wafula dismissed Frazer saying she is misguided and misinformed.
He said the former US official is not a prosecutor at the ICC to dismiss the Kenyan cases as hearsay insisting that people died, houses were burnt and thousands were displaced after the 2007 bungled polls.
“But of course we would want the US Government to come out clearly and tell us if their policy on the ICC has changed,” Wafula said.
Ms Frazer, who was speaking at a Washington think tank on Kenya’s election, questioned the ICC’s legitimacy, saying the court is “a manipulated institution, particularly by the West.”
Her stinging criticism of Carson’s “consequences” statement struck some observers as a partisan attack by a Republican Party supporter on a Democratic administration’s leading Africa diplomat.
Her remarks drew a sharp rejoinder from Prof Karuti Kanyinga from the University of Nairobi who took part in the forum at the Brookings Institution.
“The ICC is the best thing for Kenya,” he said. He described Kenya as “a country where senior and influential people are never held to account for anything whatsoever.”
The ICC serves to warn those suspected of serious crimes that “no matter how far you run, no matter where you go, you will be treated like an ordinary person.”
And Makau Mutua, the dean of a law school affiliated with the State University of New York, asked: “And how does she know the case is hearsay? That’s a Uhuru line.”
Asked at the forum how she would respond to a Kenyatta victory if she were still a senior State Department official, Frazer said the US government “should continue to work with the Kenya government until the point somebody is tried and convicted.”
Johnnie Carson is a career diplomat from the United States who has served as United States Ambassador to several African nations. In 2009 he was nominated to become U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs by President Barack Obama
Jendayi Elizabeth Frazer is the former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, heading the Bureau of African Affairs.
Former United States Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer has termed the ICC case against Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta weak and based on hearsay.
She also dismissed the Kenyan cases at The Hague and accused her successor Johnnie Carson of meddling in Kenyan affairs.
She said the US should not threaten Kenya on the choice voters make, pointing out that the two cases at the International Criminal Court (ICC) have not been proven.
“I am troubled by Johnnie Carson’s statement essentially meddling in Kenya’s election,” said Frazer, who served under Bush administration from 2005 to 2009.
“It is reckless and irresponsible, given that the election is very close, for us to try to intervene in Kenya’s election decision,” she said.
She added: “I think the ICC case against Uhuru Kenyatta is a weak one and is based on hearsay.”
Manipulated
Carson had warned Kenya that March 4th General Election outcome would have consequences.
But speaking to The Standard on Saturday on phone, former NGO Council Chairman Ken Wafula dismissed Frazer saying she is misguided and misinformed.
He said the former US official is not a prosecutor at the ICC to dismiss the Kenyan cases as hearsay insisting that people died, houses were burnt and thousands were displaced after the 2007 bungled polls.
“But of course we would want the US Government to come out clearly and tell us if their policy on the ICC has changed,” Wafula said.
Ms Frazer, who was speaking at a Washington think tank on Kenya’s election, questioned the ICC’s legitimacy, saying the court is “a manipulated institution, particularly by the West.”
Her stinging criticism of Carson’s “consequences” statement struck some observers as a partisan attack by a Republican Party supporter on a Democratic administration’s leading Africa diplomat.
Her remarks drew a sharp rejoinder from Prof Karuti Kanyinga from the University of Nairobi who took part in the forum at the Brookings Institution.
“The ICC is the best thing for Kenya,” he said. He described Kenya as “a country where senior and influential people are never held to account for anything whatsoever.”
The ICC serves to warn those suspected of serious crimes that “no matter how far you run, no matter where you go, you will be treated like an ordinary person.”
And Makau Mutua, the dean of a law school affiliated with the State University of New York, asked: “And how does she know the case is hearsay? That’s a Uhuru line.”
Asked at the forum how she would respond to a Kenyatta victory if she were still a senior State Department official, Frazer said the US government “should continue to work with the Kenya government until the point somebody is tried and convicted.”
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