Kenya: What Does an Australian MP Have to Do With Uhuru?

16 February 2013
opinion

A reader sent us this opinion column from Australia arguing that an elected MP cannot simultaneously deal with a court case. The reader suggested that we should substitute the words 'Uhuru Kenyatta' for 'Craig Thomson,' and 'Kenya' for 'Australia' to get an interesting commentary on whether Uhuru can or should run the country while on trial at the ICC.

Labour Party MP Craig Thomson has just been arrested and faces almost 150 charges of fraud. The arrest of Mr Thomson will not of its own force him to resign. Legally an Australia MP must only step down if they are convicted of an offence carrying a potential jail sentence of more than one year. The Labour Party is arguing that Thomson is innocent until proved guilty and does not need to stand down. Thomson was only arrested last week but was facing the fraud allegations even when he was elected in 2010.

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