Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has confirmed
he will be appearing at the International Criminal
Court in The Hague this week.
He told parliament that his deputy, William Ruto,
would be in charge during his absence.
Mr Kenyatta faces charges of organising ethnic
massacres that killed 1,200 people after the 2007
elections - something he denies.
The 8 October hearing is due to set a date for his
trial to begin.
The ICC had summoned him to appear to explain
allegations that evidence against him had been
withheld.
In September, the court postponed the trial after
prosecutors said the Kenyan government had failed
to deliver key documents. Witnesses for the
prosecution have withdrawn from the case.
Dozens of Kenyan MPs are expected to travel to
The Hague to back Mr Kenyatta at the status
hearing.
Mr Kenyatta said he would be going to The Hague
in a personal capacity - not as president - so as
not to compromise the sovereignty of Kenya's 40
million people.
"To protect the sovereignty of the Kenyan republic,
I now take the extraordinary and unprecedented
step of evoking article 1473 of the constitution and
I will shortly issue the legal notice necessary to
appoint honourable William Ruto, the deputy
president, as acting president while I attend the
status conference at The Hague in the
Netherlands," he said.
He again stressed his innocence: "I wish to
reiterate here for all that my conscience is clear,
has been clear and will remain forever clear that I
am innocent of all the accusations that have been
levelled against me.
"After all this, the prosecutor of the ICC has since
last December and as recently as last month,
admitted to the judges that the available evidence
is insufficient to prove alleged criminal
responsibility beyond reasonable doubt."
There had been growing doubts as to whether Mr
Kenyatta would become the first sitting president
to attend the court. He had already been to the ICC
before becoming president in 2013.
Mr Kenyatta faces five charges relating to the
ethnic massacres - the worst violence in Kenya
since independence in 1963. Tens of thousands of
people were displaced and Kenya's reputation for
stability was tarnished.
Mr Kenyatta was a close ally of President Mwai
Kibaki, who was declared the winner of the 2007
election. Mr Kibaki's rival, Raila Odinga, claimed
the poll was marred by fraud.
The dispute took on an ethnic dimension, pitting
members of the Kikuyu ethnic group of Mr
Kenyatta and Mr Kibaki against other communities.
Mr Kenyatta is accused of organising an ethnic
Kikuyu gang, the Mungiki sect, to attack rival
groups.
Vice-President Ruto also faces charges at The
Hague, but he was on Mr Odinga's side during the
violence. He also denies the charges.
m.bbc.com/news/world-africa-29511317

Why are they not calling our leaders to ICC.?

THE AFRICAN UNIOUN SHOULD SPEAK OUT,NO BODY DID MASSACRE THAN GEORGE BUSH,WHY MUST IT BE ONLY AFRICAN LEADERS,FIRST WAS CHARLES TAYLOR,NOW THIS GUY,HE SHOULD BE JUDGE IN AFRICA,THE AFRICAN UNIOUN HAS ITS OWN COURT,THIS IS A CONTINOUS DEGRADING OF AFRICANS AND ITS LEADERS

He did step down as a presidennt so that he can appear in personal capacity.The deputy president is now acting president until such a time the status confrence winds up.

yuncka:
Why are they not calling our leaders to ICC.?

The ICC is a no respecter of the immunity clause in any country's constitution.

And this is how GEJ will appear in ICC one day.