On September 1st the ICC in The Hague finally began presenting the pre-trial case against six men for organizing the violence that erupted in Kenya after the election of 2007. Hopefully this will lead media in Kenya to report on what happened and why it happened, not only printing endless quotes by politicians on whether the case should have been brought to trial, here I'm referring mainly to the the two dominant news groups, The Nation and The Standard,

When the pre-trial is over in December, the court in The Hague will decide whether or not to initiate an actual criminal trial at the ICC. In Kenyan media,  the six men accused are called "the Ocampo 6", an allegory to the "the Kapenguria 6", six freedom fighters arrested and tried by the British in 1952-53. In my view it is very hard to understand what these six men, where at least five of them belong to the absolute political elite of Kenya, have in common with the 1950's freedom fighters.

The first three accused by the ICC prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo, are William Ruto, Henry Kosgey and radio presenter Joshua Arap Sang. They are accused of organizing the violence committed in Rift Valley by the Kalenjin ethnic group. Soon after the election result was published in December 2007, young Kalenjin men gathered in groups to attack people from other ethnic groups. These young "warriors" killed hundreds of people and forced hundreds of thousands of people from their homes.

Later on the court will call three other men accused of organizing the counterattack performed by young Kikuyus. They are Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, The head of Civil Service Francis Muthaura, and former police commissioner Hussin Ali.

The ICC prosecution has split Kenya in two; those fully supporting the ICC trial because they see no other way to bring justice to the victims of the violence. On the other side stand those who view the international body as partial and supportive of one side in Kenyan politics, namely the one represented by Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

Of course the ICC-prosecution is a major event, which must be reported, that is not what I and many others are arguing. The question is the way it has been presented in media. Even before December 10 2010, when the ICC prosecutor Louis Moreno Ocampo disclosed the names of the accused, the possibility that ICC was to bring Kenyans to justice was the main news story. Once the names were out the ICC-story became virtually the only news story in Kenya, overshadowing any other event, even the ongoing drought that threaten the lives of tens of thousands of Kenyans because of malnutrition, lack of water and related diseases.

During the eight months I spent in Kenya, between October 2010 and May 2011, I was surprised that media barely let any of the actual victims speak. The tragedies committed in the post election violence, was turned into a political game – if not a farce.

First reporters named the accused "Ocampo 6". Bundling them into one group was indeed extremely strange since the six men were evenly representing the the two main communities that had attacked each other in the fallout of the presidential election 2007;  the Kalenjin and the Kikuyu. But soon, according to media, the former combatants, the Kikuyi and Kalenjin, had formed an alliance. This alliance was quickliy labelled the KKK. Not a very flattering name for a political party in Africa. The name is drawn from the first letters of the three ethnic groups who are supposedly involved in this political alliance; the Kalenjin, Kikuyu and the Kamba. According to endless media reports they joined sides to present one single candidate against Raila Odinga in the forthcoming presidential election 2012. The ICC Prosecutor is presenting evidence against two of the hopeful presidential candidates in this odd alliance. 

Last time the six men came back to Kenya from The Hague in April, (where they were accompanied by 140 people, out of which 40 were fellow parliamentarians) the six accused were met and cheered by tens of thousands of people in a "prayer meeting for peace". This caused an outrage by many in Kenya who requested media to block reporting on the six accused of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court in The Hague. One might think this was a strange request, especially since the case involves two possible presidential candidates. But the issue is that media had forgotten to report the side of the victims of the election violence and also they had taken for granted that people will allways follow ethnic lines, even though there are quite a few people who are saying that Kenya must find ways to leave ethnic politics behind them. Instead media were simply reporting what this politician said countering with what that politician thought on whether the ICC should, or should not, have formed a case against them, and whether Ruto or Kenyatta could still run for president in two years.

Now, finally, the pre-trial is on and we are given reports on what happened. But still the main news outlets in Kenya are trapped in asking the accused what they think of the trial, and should there be a trial. Instead, start focusing on the actual court case, read what the accusations are, and ask the powerful men who are accused what they actually did in 2007 and 2008 and why. Sure they will say "I'm not guilty", but then counter them with facts and figures presented in the court. And most importantly, don't forget the victims of the violence.