Cord now drags Gichangi’s name into The Hague case blame game

What you need to know:

  • Mr Odinga’s brother, Dr Oburu Oginga, claimed at a press conference that Mr Kenyatta got Mr Gichangi, the then National Intelligence Service director-general to testify against Mr Ruto on July 21, 2008.
  • On Tuesday, Mr Odinga sensationally claimed that Mr Kenyatta used Mr Moses Kuria, who is now Gatundu South MP, to procure and coach witnesses to fix Mr Ruto.

Cord leader Raila Odinga’s allies on Friday claimed President Uhuru Kenyatta used former intelligence chief Michael Gichangi to fix Deputy President William Ruto at the ICC.

Mr Odinga’s brother, Dr Oburu Oginga, claimed at a press conference that Mr Kenyatta got Mr Gichangi, the then National Intelligence Service director-general to testify against Mr Ruto on July 21, 2008.

“Very critical evidence against William Ruto was supplied by the then director of intelligence, Mr Michael Gichangi. He testified on 21 July, 2008 and handed over a dossier that named and implicated Ruto,” he said.

Orange Democratic Movement deputy treasurer Olga Karani and Ugunja MP Opiyo Wandayi were also at the press conference.

The latest claims are yet another twist to the raging war of words between Mr Odinga and MPs allied to the Jubilee coalition over Mr Ruto’s ICC case.

On Tuesday, Mr Odinga sensationally claimed that Mr Kenyatta used Mr Moses Kuria, who is now Gatundu South MP, to procure and coach witnesses to fix Mr Ruto.

Mr Odinga claimed Mr Kuria was then employed by Mr Kenyatta at his UK Centre as a political assistant.

But former UK Centre Director David Murathe rubbished Mr Odinga’s claims, saying Mr Kuria never worked for Mr Kenyatta.

He described Mr Odinga’s claims as “mischievous”.

Mr Murathe, now Jubilee Alliance vice chairman, accused Mr Odinga and his allies of working hard to put a wedge between Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto.

“The ODM brigade is dragging the name of the President into their murky scheme of trying to divide Jubilee. Unfortunately for them, we are not only growing stronger but also attracting new partners,” said the former Gatanga MP.

“The issue is not who fixed who at the ICC, but whether they want the Deputy President’s case to collapse just like the President’s for lack of credible witnesses,” he said.

“ODM should tell Kenyans whether they want the Deputy President freed or they want to complicate his case so that they can use it for their 2017 political campaigns,” Mr Murathe added.

Yesterday, Mr Odinga’s allies said in a statement read by Ms Karani: “In November 2013, Ruto asked Uhuru to let him have evidence held by the NIS.

Uhuru refused, even though Ruto was now Deputy President.”

They further alleged that the Kenyatta camp had “planted” a lawyer on the Ruto defence team with the intention of messing up his case.

Dr Oginga said there was urgent need to look into the root causes of the post-election violence instead of concentrating on who fixed who.

The Nominated MP accused the police of failing to crack down on the real perpetrators of the violence.

He said thousands of victims of the violence were yet to be compensated.