Uhuru wins right to have ex-witness data

ICC judges have directed Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to assist President Kenyatta’s defence access secret communication and asylum details of a former controversial key witness.

In their latest ruling, the judges asked Ms Bensouda to help lawyers Steven Kay and Gillian Higgins to obtain email communication of the witness.

However, Judges Kuniko Ozaki, Robert Fremr and Chile Eboe-Osuji turned down the lawyers’ request to reveal the email password and the updated asylum details of the witness.

The witness is said to be a former Mungiki leader who gave evidence alleging that President Kenyatta— who is facing crimes against humanity charges— held meetings with the sect’s leaders in January 2008 at State House.

The meeting was allegedly used to plan retaliatory attacks against ODM supporters in Naivasha and Nakuru during the 2007/08 post-poll chaos.

The lawyers want to use the information to enable them prove that the witness was not within the locality he claimed to be in January 2008.

The judges reached the decision on grounds that even though Ms Bensouda has dropped the witness from her list for the trial, scheduled to start on July 9, she is set to rely on his testimony.

Ahead of the trial

“The chamber hereby directs the prosecution to contact Witness 4 and request him to share access to his email communications from the period relevant to the part of his statement on which the prosecution continues to rely, as well as to communications from other periods to the extent they are material to the preparation of the defence,” they ruled.

Ms Bensouda was also ordered to disclose all materials she got from the witness to the defence ahead of the trial.