Uhuru law team hit by Hague visa delay

A last-minute intervention by the Office of the President secured Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta’s entourage to The Hague visas, hours after his lawyers and aides had been turned away by the Dutch embassy.

Four members of Mr Kenyatta’s defence team, including lead lawyers Steven Kay and Gillian Higgins, were yet to receive their visas by 3.30pm.

Also affected were three members of the DPM’s media team that is to accompany him to the International Criminal Court (ICC) where he is to attend the confirmation of charges hearings scheduled to start Wednesday.

But on Monday evening, the embassy issued a statement saying the visas were ready for collection.

“All visas applied for last week by Kenyans travelling to the ICC, including those for counsel, have been issued,” said press officer Camilla Veerman.

Sources said the Office of the President and Ministry of Foreign Affairs had intervened after it became clear some of Mr Kenyatta’s team would not travel.

The schedule

At 3.30pm Kenyan time Wednesday, Judge Ekaterina Trendafilova will kick off the hearings against Mr Kenyatta, Civil Service boss Francis Muthaura and former police boss Maj-Gen (rtd) Hussein Ali. The sessions will run up to October 5.

Maj-Gen Ali and Mr Muthaura were also scheduled to leave the country Mondayevening. Their legal teams were already at The Hague. The lawyers were on Monday filing the challenges on the admissibility of their cases which is the first order of the hearings.

Mr Kenyatta’s wife, Margaret, his sister Christina Platt and brother Muhoho Kenyatta were to accompany him for the hearings. It was not clear whether there were any family members accompanying Maj-Gen Ali and Mr Muthaura.

On Sunday, MPs Kareke Mbiuki, Ferdinard Waititu and Peter Munya had said they would be accompanying the Finance minister to The Hague.

The three suspects will from Thursday know the extent of the evidence that ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo has against them over accusations of planning, funding and executing revenge attacks against ODM supporters during the 2008 post-election violence.

The case is expected to be more dramatic than the previous one as it involves two key allies of President Kibaki — Mr Kenyatta and Mr Muthaura. Mr Kenyatta will be taking the stand for more than three hours as his own witness.

The case also involves sensational claims by the prosecution of how Mungiki were shuttled to State House in Nairobi and dressed in police uniforms before being transported to Naivasha and Nakuru to commit the crimes.

After the opening remarks by Judge Trendafilova, the defence and the prosecution will make submissions on procedural matters which include the suspects’ challenge on the admissibility of the cases.

The applications on the admissibility were supposed to have been filed by Monday evening for them to be admitted at the hearings.

After the submissions, each party — including the victims’ lawyer Morris Anyah — will have 30 minutes to make their opening statements. The hearings will then break until Thursday afternoon when the prosecution will present its case against the three.

Maj-Gen Ali’s defence is led by Mr Gregory Kehoe and Mr Evans Monari, while Mr Muthaura’s is led by Mr Karim Khan and Mr Essa Faal.

The schedule shows that the hearings will go on until October 5 when the suspects, the prosecution and the victims’ lawyer will present their closing statements.

However, from the experience of the first case against Eldoret North MP William Ruto, suspended minister Henry Kosgey and radio presenter Joshua arap Sang, the hearings might end earlier.

The move by Mr Kenyatta to take the stand as a witness means that the prosecution and the judges will directly question him during cross-examination.

Mr Muthaura and Maj-Gen Ali will not be taking the stand, but will each call two witnesses and will have the opportunity to address the court on the first day. Mr Kenyatta’s defence will also call another witness who is yet to be identified.

The DPM is the most senior Kenyan Government official to face the ICC over alleged crimes against humanity.