- Kenyan leaders have endorsed the preparation of a new Statute for the Special Tribunal bill to pave way for the establishment of the special tribunal for the post election violence, state media has reported.
The tribunal, would seek justice for victims of the 2007 post election violence which killed more than 1,500 and displaced thousands between December 2007 and January 2008.
The violence led to a negotiated settled which saw President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga sign a power sharing deal in February to form a coalition government.
The Bill which according to state media has only 45 days to be approved by the parliament before being enacted, shall provide for the matters recommended by the Commission of Inquiry into Post-Election Violence (CIPEV).
The commission of inquiry published a report in October and handed over a list of suspects, some thought to be prominent politicians, to the mediator of the power-sharing deal, former UN chief, Kofi Annan.
For the recommendations of the committee to be implemented, President Kibaki and Prime Minister Odinga vowed to ensure that any person holding public office or any public servant charged with a criminal offence related to the post-election violence shall be suspended from duty until the matter is fully adjudicated.
"The parties shall also ensure that any person convicted of a post-election violence offence is barred from holding any public office or contesting any electoral position," the presidency office had said in the statement.
President Kibaki and Prime Minister Odinga also agreed to mobilise parliamentary support for the enactment of the Freedom of Information Bill 2008 and take necessary administrative measures to fully operationalise the Witness Protection Act 2008 and the International Crime Act of 2008.
"Convinced that fundamental reforms must be instituted to create a better, more secure and more prosperous Kenya for all, the parties shall initiate urgent and comprehensive reforms of the Kenya Police and the Administration Police," statement said.
They also agreed to ensure that the Conflict and Disaster Early Warning and Response Systems as articulated in the First Medium Term Plan (2008 - 2012) are developed and implemented as a matter of priority.
Kenya, the east Africa's economic power house saw its economy tumbling in less than two months as opposition leader Mr Odinga contested election claiming that they were rigged.
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