African press review 25 October 2013

Ruto's defence tried to discredit ICC witnesses. The AU is accused of being a creaky dinosaur. Kenya's media fear attacks on press freedom. SA clamps down on civil service insider-dealing. And Nigeria faces a row over bullet-proof cars.

In Kenya the Nation headlines on a siege laid by Vice-President William Ruto’s legal team at The Hague. It is about the "flip-flop witnesses testifying against their client".

The respected daily reports that the Kenyan deputy president’s trademark cap was displayed in court Thursday as the defence sought to discredit witness 487’s testimony that it was used to pass coded messages.

The court refers to the witness as “it” to protect the identity of the person called to substantiate charges of crimes against humanity filed by the ICC against Ruto in connection with the bloodshed that erupted following 2007 elections in the country.

Standard Digital says that the ICC witness bluntly admitted giving a false account. The trial is also being bugged down by an African Union letter to the UN Security Council seeking a one-year suspension of proceedings against the Kenyan leaders. Article 16 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court grants the UN body such powers and the request is expected to be addressed next week.

South Africa’s Mail and Guardian claims in a fiery commentary that Africans are tired of institutions "minimising, trivialising, denigrating and silencing the victims, destroying their credibility and further violating their dignity". According to the paper, the events of the past weekend demonstrate that the AU remains a creaky dinosaur, operating under a cloak of dubious solidarity, one based on common complexion and colonial history. For the Mail and Guardian, if the AU is serious about dispensing justice it will fast-track the long-mooted African Court of Justice.

Also in Kenya the police chief's summoning of the Standard Media Group’s CEO as well several editors for questioning is raising a storm in Nairobi. Standard Digital reports that the company is being targeted for a report aired on its KTN broadcast arm on the Westgate terrorist attack in Nairobi. The newspaper warns that the questioning could be the first assault on media freedom under the Jubilee government.

In South Africa the City Press reports that all civil servants will soon be banned from doing business with the state.

The paper says a bill stopping government employees from benefitting from state tenders is due to be tabled in parliament before the end of the month. According to the paper, the so-called Public Administration Management Bill also demands that civil servants declare the business interests of their extended families, including spouses, siblings, cousins and other relatives. Defaulters face jail terms of up to a year in prison according to the Johannesburg newspaper.

In Nigeria the storm over the purchase of millions of euros-worth of bullet-proof cars by Aviation Minister Stella Oduah is growing into the proportions of a tsunami.

Punch newspaper claims the House of Representatives was informed on Thursday that Oduah personally approved the deal to spend one million euros on 25 luxury cars including two bullet-proof limousines for herself on grounds that she needed extra protection because of her job.