Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and former minister William Ruto have just taken a key hurdle to their participation in the March presidential poll.

Obstacles to high office might appear formidable. Kenyatta and Ruto are to be tried at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague in April for allegedly orchestrating the post-election chaos that followed a flawed presidential vote in 2007 and 2008.

Kenyatta, the son of Kenya's founding father Jomo Kenyatta, is viewed in the country as a strong contender for the presidency. But he faces the dilemma as to how he would run the country, assuming he were to win the election, while standing trial in The Hague.

Speaking to DW correspondent James Shimanyula just after his candidacy had been cleared at the Kenyatta International Conference Center, he dismissed fears of a leadership vacuum. "We have our structures and there is not at any one given time going to be a vacuum in this country. The business of running the state will continue even as this case continues," he said.

Kenyatta's Jubilee Alliance party is also fielding William Ruto, another suspect facing crimes against humanity charges at the ICC. He will be Kenyatta's running mate.

Chaotic primaries

Another strong contender for the presidency, whose candidacy was also cleared on Wednesday, was 68-year-old prime minister Raila Odinga. He leads the Coalition for Reform and Democracy alliance (CORD) and has been tipped by many to win the top job, having joined forces with his long time foe Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka.

Musyoka told DW he disapproved of tribalism, voting along ethnic lines, which he said was planted in the hearts of the majority of Kenyan voters. "Tribalism, this is the thing we should run away from," he added.

Kenya has just emerged from chaotic primaries for the March poll, which many candidates claimed were unfair with party bosses giving preferential treatment to some contestants.

More than 1,000 international and 10,000 local observers will monitor the elections in just over a month's time.

The disputed poll in 2007 sparked off ethnic fighting that killed more than 1,000 people and drove more than half a million from their homes.

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