Raila ready to testify in Ruto ICC case
What you need to know:
Mr Odinga also condemned a decision by African heads of state to pull out of the international court and form one locally, during their meeting last week in Addis Ababa.
If Mr Museveni is against the court, then he should let the Lord’s Resistance Army commander Dominic Ongwen be brought back and tried under Ugandan law.
Those from the PNU side were Mr Uhuru Kenyatta, Ambassador Francis Muthaura, who was the head of the public service at the time and Maj-Gen Hussein Ali, who was the police commissioner at the time.
Cord leader Raila Odinga is willing to testify at the International Criminal Court in the case against Deputy President William Ruto.
Mr Odinga on Sunday said he was aware of what happened during the violence that followed the announcement of the disputed 2007 presidential election results and was willing to testify on behalf of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), in which Mr Ruto was a key leader.
Mr Odinga was the party’s presidential candidate during the election that Mr Justice Johann Kriegler said was so muddled by irregularities it was impossible to tell who had won. Mr Ruto was one of the key leaders of the party at the time.
Reacting to Mr Odinga’s offer, Mr Ruto said through his spokesman that he had a competent legal team and was innocent.
“The Deputy President welcomes Raila Odinga’s offer to testify. However, his conscience remains clear. He’s innocent and in a short while, he will be vindicated,” he said through his spokesman, Mr David Mugonyi. “He thanks all well wishers for prayers.”
There are several ways in which one can testify at the ICC. One can be approached either by the prosecutor or the defence team. One can also record a statement with either the defence or prosecution. Once a person’s statement is recorded and certified, then one officially becomes a witness.
NO FORMAL REQUEST
On Sunday, Mr Odinga said that Mr Ruto, now the Deputy President and URP leader, had not made any formal request for him to testify.
“I am willing to testify at the ICC on behalf of my party, ODM. But as far as I know, no one has made such a request to me,” he told journalists after a meeting with the Luo Council of Elders in Kisumu hotel.
His statement came a week after Elgeyo-Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen led a group of United Republican Party (URP) legislators in challenging him to testify at The Hague to increase the chances of Mr Ruto being acquitted of the five counts he is facing related to charges of crimes against humanity over the 2007/2008 post-election violence.
When he started the Kenya cases, the then ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo charged three people from ODM and three from PNU with murder, forceful transfer of populations, persecution and other crimes against humanity including rape and torture.
Those charged from ODM were the then party chairman Henry Kosgei, Mr Ruto and radio journalist Joshua arap Sang.
CASES DROPPED
Those from the PNU side were Mr Uhuru Kenyatta, Ambassador Francis Muthaura, who was the head of the public service at the time and Maj-Gen Hussein Ali, who was the police commissioner at the time.
Four of the six cases have since been dropped. Only the cases against Mr Ruto and Mr Sang are still in court.
According to the Waki report, 1,133 people were killed during the post-election violence while another 650,000 were displaced. The violence ended when the then President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Odinga signed the National Accord on February 28, 2008.
“Former President Mwai Kibaki and I tried as much as we could to deal with the issue and tried to push the Members of Parliament to pass laws that would enable the country set up a local tribunal but it backfired,” Mr Odinga said on Sunday.
The debate on whether he should testify started on January 24 at a funeral in Elgeyo Marakwet when Mr Murkomen said: “I am asking the former Prime Minister that please, Mzee, join us in this quest to ensure William Ruto and radio journalist Joshua Sang are freed.
