Kenya Shilling Reverses Gains Before ICC Announcement on Violence Suspects

Kenya’s shilling reversed gains before an announcement later today by the International Criminal Court that is expected to identify six of the main suspects allegedly involved in post-election violence in 2008.

The currency of East Africa’s biggest economy gained as much as 0.8 percent to 79.88 per dollar and was trading at 80.65 shillings at 11:57 a.m. in Nairobi, the capital. It closed at 80.50 yesterday.

“The market is playing cautious ahead of the International Criminal Court expected announcement on those to be indicted for the post-election violence,” Steve Lagat, a trader at CFC Stanbic Holdings Ltd. in Nairobi, said in a phone interview.

ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said earlier this month he will file cases against six Kenyans for committing crimes against humanity during the two months of ethnic clashes that followed a disputed presidential election in December 2007. As many as 1,500 people were killed and 300,000 others displaced in the fighting.

The announcement is expected to be made at 12 p.m. in The Hague.

To contact the reporter on this story: Johnstone Ole Turana in Nairobi via Johannesburg at 1999 or pmrichardson@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Antony Sguazzin in Johannesburg at asguazzin@bloomberg.net.

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