It is said that the Kenyan government has set up a group of five ministers to tour the continent to lobby African countries to support its call to quit the ICC. The intention is to ensure that the Kenyan leaders accused of involvement in the election violence do not face the ICC jurors. Mwakwere, who was in Gaborone last week, is one of the five emissaries sent to lobby for support across the continent.

Speaking in an interview with The Monitor, Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister Phandu Skelemani confirmed that Mwakwere came to lobby Botswana to support the Kenyan motion. Skelemani, who is on leave, said he was unable to attend the meeting President Ian Khama had with Mwakwere as he was away at his village. "I heard that there was a special envoy, the Kenyan Trade Minister, who was sent here to talk about their case at the ICC, where a lot of them are accused of having played a role in the election violence. They want to lobby, because they are saying 'kgang e, e ya kgakala' (the ICC has gone overboard), that if Africans are just going to be targeted we have to do something about it (ICC)," he said.

Skelemani said he did not know how the talks between Khama and Mwakwere ended, but he however assured The Monitor that, "We are full members of the ICC. We intend to keep it (membership) until we feel there is something wrong with it. At the moment we have no qualms with it," he said. Meanwhile, when asked to shed some light on what may have been discussed between the President and the Kenyan minister, government spokesman Dr Jeff Ramsay said the talks were held in camera. "So I would not know what was said, but there is no doubt about our stand regarding the ICC.  It has not changed. We support ICC," he said.

http://www.mmegi.bw/index.php?sid=1&aid=458&dir=2011/January/Monday24