AG: Govt handed suspects' court files to Bensouda

International Criminal Court prosecutor Ms Fatou Bensouda left the country on Friday with a harvest of files of past domestic cases involving the four Kenyan suspects.

Attorney General Githu Muigai told the Nation on Saturday that the government responded to the request by Ms Bensouda for information concerning the suspects.

Prof Mugai however refrained from mentioning the exact case files his office handed to the Office of The Prosecutor (OTP).

“It is a work in progress. Even this week that they (officials from the OTP) have been here, we have already given them files about all the cases that were concluded here domestically,” he said on the sidelines of a symposium by Kenya Women Medical Association in Nairobi.

Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, Eldoret North MP William Ruto, former Head of Civil Service Francis Muthaura and radio journalist Joshua arap Sang face charges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) of bearing the greatest responsibility for crimes committed during the 2007-2008 post-election violence.

ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda was in the country from Monday to Thursday during which she met President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga and requested for information concerning the suspects.

Asked whether the government would agree to give details on wealth owned by the suspects, the AG said: “When the times come, we will advise on that.”

Prof Muigai confirmed that Ms Bensouda requested for information on what they (the suspects) own, but added co-operation on the matter will depend on how fast other agencies resolve to release the information.

“We have always done it, we are still doing it. They can request motor vehicle records, sometimes, we give that. They can request files that have been concluded in court, we give that.

“It depends on what they have requested, how soon the government ministries or department can respond to us, and then we respond to them, said Prof Muigai.

Of the four, Mr Ruto has had two recent cases on alleged land grabbing.

In April last year, Mr Ruto was acquitted of Sh43 million land fraud charges after the prosecution failed to prove the case in which he and his co-accused Mr Joshua Kulei and Mr Sammy Mwaita were charged with fraudulently obtaining Sh272 million from the Kenya Pipeline Corporation (KPC) by selling it plots in the Ngong Forest.

In the same year, a farmer in Turbo, Eldoret went to court claiming Mr Ruto had grabbed his 100-acre land during the post-poll skirmishes. The farmer, Mr Adrian Muteshi, in July told the court that Mr Ruto had told him he had been cheated into buying the land. The farmer added that the MP had personally apologised to him and agreed to return the land.

On Wednesday, Ms Bensouda had asked Chief Justice Willy Mutunga for court files on cases touching on atrocities committed in Kapsabet and the Kenya Assemblies of God Church at the height of the violence.

Even with the co-operation by the Kenyan government, Ms Bensouda still complained of obstruction by some unnamed government agencies that she accused of blocking the release of other pieces of information about the suspects.