Today's Headlines
- Lessons and Implications of the Confirmation of Charges Against Kenya's 'Ocampo Four'
- Finance Minister Quits Over ICC Charges
- Shortage of HIV Test Kits Raises Concerns
- Living On the Edge in Turkana Region
- Ali Breaks Silence, Describes Delight At Acquittal
- Uhuru, Ruto Eligible for Presidency - CIC
- Tea Sector Posts Record Earnings in 2011
- Resettle IDPs, Urges Annan
- Uhuru, Muthaura Have Done the Right Thing
- All Displaced People Should Return Home
- Concern Raised As Parents Shun Schools in Poll Violence Hotspots
- Ruling On IEBC Hiring in February
- Country Working Towards Conditions Needed for Direct Flights to U.S.
- How ICC Claimed Kibaki's Lieutenants
- Geothermal Project to Receive Sh10 Billion Funding Boost
- Five Million to Get IDs Before Elections
- Speed Up Building Port
- Uhuru and Muthaura Did Well to Quit Posts
- A Full Plate Awaits Githae
- Clashes Continue in Moyale
- Baraza Case to Be Heard Monday
- Two Firms in Joint Venture to Drill for Oil Near Lodwar
- Exit Uhuru, Muthaura
- ICC Charges Hound Uhuru Out of Treasury
- Consumers Grow Despite Inflation
- Poor Relations Between Banks Blamed for Cash Shortages
- Fish Prices Up As Vegetable Supply Dwindles
- Consumers to Pay More for Milk and Bread As Prices Rise
- Kibaki Tasks Ex-Dar CJ to Lead Probe in Kenya
- Mombasa Port Cargo Congestion Forces Three-Month Fees Waiver
26 January 2012
Kenya's Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta resigned Thursday after the International Criminal Court ruled this week he should stand trial for his alleged role in 2007-8 post-election violence, a statement said.
Head of public service Francis Muthaura, one of the most influential men in President Mwai Kibaki's circle, who was also indicted Monday by the Hague-based court, resigned as well.
Kibaki "accepted the decision by Hon. Uhuru Kenyatta to step aside as the minister for finance... However, Hon. Kenyatta will retain the position of deputy prime minister," his office said in a statement.
Activist groups have gone to court to block Kenyatta from running for the presidency in elections due by March 2013 following the ICC charges.
One of Kenya's top newspapers, the Daily Nation, on Thursday led its editorial calling for Kenyatta and Muthaura to quit office.
"It would be decidedly odd if a candidate for president was also a candidate for imprisonment if convicted, and impeachment," it said.
Kenyatta, son of independent Kenya's founding father Jomo Kenyatta and one of Africa's wealthiest men, and Muthaura, often described as Kibaki's right-hand man, face five counts including orchestrating murder, rape, forcible transfer and persecution in the polls' aftermath.
