First prosecution witness resumes testimony

The first prosecution witness on Wednesday resumed her testimony in private sessions.

Witness 536, who was also a victim of the Kiambaa Church arson attack on January 1, 2008, has been on the witness stand since September 17 except for the break and on the day she could not testify after it emerged that certain individuals had attempted to unmask her identity and intimidate her and the family.

The prosecution on Wednesday concluded cross-examining her.

The common legal representative for the victims, Mr Wilfred Nderitu, will be the next to cross-examine her.

The defence had opposed this but were overruled.

Allowing Mr Nderitu to cross-examine the witness first, presiding judge Chile Eboe-Osuji said the evidence that the common legal representative for the victims sought to obtain “would be relevant” to the proceedings.

Cross-examination of the witness by Mr Nderitu continues in a private session after which the defence for Mr Ruto will take to the floor.

The defence for Mr Sang will finish the cross-examination, though as in any court, the judges could also seek certain clarifications from the witness.

The court will sit extended hours to make up for the lost time.

“As we all know, we lost some time in the trial due to events beyond our control. We are being forced to make up for the lost time,” Judge Osuji said on Wednesday at the resumption of the trials that adjourned on Monday September 23.

EXTENDED HOURS

Wednesday’s session started about 15 minutes earlier at 9.15am and ran until 5pm Dutch time.

“We will be sitting extended hours today (Wednesday), tomorrow and possibly Friday. We will review Wednesday if the court is available,” the chamber said.

Hearings will also take place between October 7 and 11, with the rest of the time timetable still under review.

Judge Osuji was categorical that the trials will break on November 1 as scheduled to pave way for the start of the trial of President Kenyatta on November 12. “The intention is not to vary the calendar beyond November 1. At the moment, the idea is to keep to the schedule,” he said.

The trials of Mr Ruto and Mr Sang adjourned on September 23 when the chamber granted the Deputy President a request for excusal to return to Nairobi to attend to the Westgate terrorist attacks and its aftermath.

The initial excusal of one week was extended by two days during the status conference last Friday. The defence had requested for two more weeks.

The chamber is, however, yet to pronounce itself on whether there will be the initial break that was to start on October 4 to October 14, which now looks less likely.

Mr Sang’s lead counsel, Mr Katwa Kigen, offered that his client was “happy to extend the sitting schedule to include Saturdays.”

Mr Ruto’s defence counsel said his client was ready to sit the extended hours up to 7pm as it was the case during the confirmation of charges hearings, including weekends.

Prosecution lead counsel Anton Steynberg invited the chamber to take into account the interest of the witness when making any decisions on extended sitting hours.

The chamber will be expected to rule on the same but Judge Osuji signalled that the sitting hours would be dictated by International Labour Organisation standards.