Kenya's President: Facing mall attack, charges

As the four-day siege at Nairobi's Westgate mall ground to a bloody end, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta went on national television to decry the savagery of the attack by Islamist gunmen and urge his countrymen to stand firm against the forces of divisiveness.
He praised the thousands who rushed to donate blood to victims of the siege, noting the crowds came from across the spectrum of this multi-ethnic nation.
"Deep inside, where it counts most, we are one, indivisible national family," said Kenyatta, who today attended the funeral of his nephew. Mbugua Mwangi, who was among those killed in the siege. "Let no one amongst us ever be blamed for dividing the people of Kenya."

But some are being blamed for doing just that in the past. Kenyatta foremost among them.
He faces charges of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court, accused of orchestrating murder and rape in Kenya's 2007-8 postelection chaos in which more than 1,000 were killed. His trial is scheduled to begin in November, making him the first serving head of state to be tried at The Hague.
If he proclaims himself a believer in a multi-ethnic nation, Kenyatta - like nearly all Kenyan politicians, is a master practitioner of ethnic politics, solidifying his political base among his Kikuyu tribe.

These are the two sides of Kenyatta, 51, an urbane, fabulously wealthy son of Jomo Kenyatta, the anti-colonial rebel hero who became the country's first post-independence leader. Uhuru, his name means "freedom" in Swahili, was educated at Amherst and returned home to become a businessman, oversee the family's vast landholdings and eventually turn to politics.
But prosecutors say he also has links to the Mungiki, a secretive, powerful group that is a cross between a grass-roots political organization and a gang of young Kikuyu thugs.The Mungiki began as a quasi-religious group dedicated to promoting Kikuyu culture in the 1980s and flourished during Kenyatta's failed presidential bid in 2002.

Kenyatta insists he is innocent of the charges, and will cooperate with the ICC investigation. His deputy, William Ruto, who faces similar charges, is already on trial, though Ruto was excused from the court this week, so he could return to Kenya to help deal with the mall siege.