Dossier links State House to chaos

Members of the outlawed Mungiki sect were transported to State House to plan revenge attacks at the height of the post-election violence, according to new prosecution evidence released from The Hague on Friday.

International Criminal Court prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo alleges that members of the illegal group were later transported to Nakuru and Naivasha in military trucks to carry out killings at the height of the murderous violence that followed the infamous 2007 General Election. (Read: How Ocampo plans to implicate Uhuru and group)

This is some of the evidence that Mr Moreno-Ocampo will rely on to try and convince Judges Ekaterina Trendafilova, Peter Hans-Kohl and Cuno Tarfusser to commit Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, Civil Service head Francis Muthaura and Postmaster General Hussein Ali to full trial for crimes against humanity.

State House yesterday said the reports were recklesss, baseless and untrue. “As we have said earlier no meeting ever took place at State House with any member of the Mungiki.

The Ocampo reference to State House meetings is therefore far fetched and a blatant lie,” a statement said.

Eldoret North MP William Ruto and Tinderet MP Henry Kosgey will also answer to charges of organising a militia which allegedly killed and evicted PNU supporters from areas in Uasin Gishu and Nandi counties.

Radio presenter Joshua Sang faces charges amounting to spreading hate speech and directing warriors where to strike.

Their confirmation hearings start on September 1.

The prosecutor says Mr Kenyatta and Mr Muthaura held fundraising meetings and financed the armed gang which carried out revenge attacks in Nakuru and Naivasha.

Mr Moreno-Ocampo will also tell the pre-trial chamber that the State House in Nakuru and Kanu offices in the town were used as bases.

Mr Ali will be accused of failing to prevent crimes by the members of the outlawed Mungiki sect while he had prior knowledge of the planned attacks on pro-ODM supporters.

The document filed by the prosecutor on Friday says Mr Kenyatta and Mr Muthaura participated in a series of activities, including preparatory meetings to mobilise, coordinate, finance and provide logistical support for the Mungiki.

“Key preparatory meetings include those held in Nairobi on or about December 30, 2007 and in early, mid and late January 2008. There were also preparatory meetings in Central Province on or about December 31, 2007, in Nakuru in early to mid January 2008 and in Naivasha in late January 2008,” Mr Moreno-Ocampo says in the document.

It adds that in the meetings, Mr Kenyatta and Mr Muthaura enlisted the services of Mungiki leaders and concluded plans for the launching of retaliatory attacks in the Rift Valley.

It adds that the recruitment, mobilisation and payment of pro-PNU youth to participate in the Naivasha and Nakuru attacks were carried out in offices belonging to Kanu.

The dossier also says Mr Kenyatta specifically tasked a former Kanu MP to organise the Nakuru operations, thereby placing the Mungiki under a responsible command.

The former MP is also said to have directly provided funding for Mungiki operations during the violence or provided information where to secure funding.

In preparation for the attacks, Mr Kenyatta is also said to have been responsible for arming and providing transport for pro-PNU youth.

“At all times, relevant to the crimes charged, Mr Kenyatta had the capacity to mobilise and influence Mungiki members who in turn received protection and patronage from him. Mr Kenyatta had control over the Mungiki, in part due to his wealth and privileged background,” the document says.

The dossier claims that Mungiki members were driven through secret routes to State House in Nairobi where they were given Administration Police uniforms before proceeding to Naivasha.

“The Mungiki members were then transported from the State House to Naivasha in military trucks by men wearing Kenyan army uniforms. The trucks contained new machetes as well as wooden clubs which the Mungiki were instructed to use,” the document says.

In one of the meetings in Nairobi in early January 2008, the dossier says, Mr Muthaura requested Mungiki leaders to deploy their members to the Rift Valley to carry out revenge attacks.

It says that during the meeting, he placed a phone call to Gen Ali to instruct him to ensure that pro-PNU youth would not be prevented from going into the Rift Valley.

“During another phone conversation with Ali in mid January 2008, Muthaura reminded Ali that the Mungiki were working with them and ordered him not to arrest them,” the dossier says.

Mr Moreno-Ocampo says that available evidence indicates that the Mungiki and pro-PNU youth attacked in a well-organised and regimented manner and that they communicated in Kikuyu and mainly targeted perceived ODM supporters.

“As part of their contribution to the attacks, the Kenya Police granted Mungiki members and pro-PNU youth being transported from other provinces unhindered passage into Nakuru town,” the dossier says linking Mr Ali to the slow and uncoordinated response by the police.