EDITORIAL OPINION A challenging time for Kenya

LATER today, Uhuru Kenyatta will be sworn in as Kenya’s fourth postindependence president after deeply divisive elections held last month. He will not enjoy the luxury of a honeymoon period.

Mr Kenyatta and William Ruto, his deputy president-elect, must immediately start fighting off charges that they orchestrated and supported postelection violence in the aftermath of the botched 2007 elections, in which about 1,300 people died and 650,000 were displaced and for which they have been indicted by the International Criminal Court. They are the first such accused to win election before trial — a slap in the face for the Haguebased court, which was created to tackle impunity in whatever jurisdiction the alleged crime occurred.

Key witnesses in both Mr Kenyatta’s and Mr Ruto’s case have recanted their evidence or declined to testify since the election, and it is likely that their cases will be abandoned as a result. This will be a major setback for the court, which does not have a great history of successful prosecutions and has been accused of carrying out below-par investigations in the case of Kenya.

The indictment was a major issue in Kenya’s election. Western governments, at risk of being seen as partial in favour of Mr Kenyatta’s main rival, Raila Odinga, publicly warned Kenya that electing men accused of human rights abuses would have “consequences”. This was not wise — as feared, the warnings had the unintended consequence of encouraging people to rally behind Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto in a fit of misguided patriotism.

The US and UK have now both executed about-turns on the issue, recognising that their national interests — commercial and military — will not be served by ostracising Mr Kenyatta. Kenya is central to regional stability and western interests in Somalia and South Sudan, and is also often used as a staging post for any relief work in the region, including in the Democratic Repub- lic of Congo. British MPs drove home the point last month, when they told their government it must ensure that British interests are protected, especially against the background of growing Chinese influence in Kenya and the whole of East Africa. British companies dominate the Nairobi Stock Exchange and are heavily involved in oil and gas exploration, a position of influence the UK does not want to cede to China or any other power.

The “Go East” policy was a feature of Mr Kenyatta’s campaign rhetoric and has ruffled many western feathers, but he is unlikely to take drastic steps in that direction as head of government. The fact remains, however, that he and Mr Ruto are still under indictment, with their trials due to start in a matter of months.

This means they will have to devote a considerable part of their first weeks in office to plotting their defence in case the trials do not collapse, instead of focusing on developing their country and implementing their ambitious election manifesto.

That manifesto sets out quite succinctly the significant challenges Kenya faces, including fixing an ailing education system, improving maternal care and — most important — facing up to the challenge of youth unemployment. Kenya has more than 40,000 unemployed university graduates and Mr Kenyatta has pledged myriad government initiatives to create jobs and better utilise the nation’s skills.

He must also act against rampant corruption at all levels of society and work to heal the ethnic divide that is a constant factor in Kenya. Mr Kenyatta was supported mainly by his ethnic majority Kikuyu and Mr Ruto’s Kalenjin, who were on opposing sides when the violence broke out after the 2007 elections. Mr Odinga was supported by the bulk of Kenya’s other 42 tribes, who feel the two leaders have been pushed down their throats by what the Kenyan media have dubbed “the tyranny of numbers”.