William Ruto ICC case rocks Jubilee ahead of plans to merge coalition partners

Lawmakers from The National Alliance party at a burial ceremony in Lari, Kiambu, on September 3, 2015. Parties affiliated to Jubilee Coalition have until Friday, November 6, 2015 to dissolve to form one party. PHOTO | ERIC WAINAINA |

What you need to know:

  • Leaders in race to mend political fences amid growing disquiet in ruling coalition.
  • 60 leaders from the Rift Valley call prayer meeting over Hague trials.
  • President and Deputy to receive merger plan for parties on Monday.

Sixteen TNA lawmakers on Thursday sought to mend fences with their URP colleagues in the Jubilee coalition after they accused the government of failing to support Deputy President William Ruto, who is on trial at the International Criminal Court.

Speaking three days ahead of a prayer meeting to be led by 60 Rift Valley legislators on Sunday, the TNA parliamentarians said claims that Mr Ruto had been abandoned were being propagated by a group of URP lawmakers who are uncomfortable with the determination by President Uhuru Kenyatta and Mr Ruto to fold the two parties in favour of the Jubilee Alliance Party (JAP) in preparation for the 2017 elections.

On Wednesday, President Kenyatta told TNA and URP leaders to fold their parties, join JAP and share out seats in the new party.

On Monday, Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto are scheduled to receive a confidential report on how the two parties should be merged.

Interestingly, leaders from the opposition Cord are also meeting in Naivasha this weekend to strategise about the 2017 election.

On Thursday, the TNA lawmakers said they would attend Sunday’s prayer meeting that had been planned exclusively for elected leaders from the Rift Valley. The meeting will be held at the edge of the Mau Forest in Kiptoror Township, Kuresoi South constituency.

Kiambu Senator Kimani Wamatangi told a funeral gathering in Lari: “We know where we have come from (politically) and where we are going.” He was speaking during the burial of the father of the area MP, Mr Mburu Kahangara.

He asked Kenya to review its cooperation with the International Criminal Court, saying its change of stance in relation to the Ruto case was suspicious.

“The Deputy President has faithfully travelled to (the) ICC but the court has continuously changed the rules,” he said.

He and the other leaders were responding to growing complaints by their counterparts from the Rift Valley who for the past one week have been saying that the government was no longer fighting Mr Ruto’s case with the zeal it confronted the charges against President Kenyatta until they were withdrawn last December.

APPEAL

Two weeks ago, ICC Trial Chamber judges allowed Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to use as evidence statements from hostile witnesses who had recanted their testimonies. The move is also likely to open a window for the prosecutor to bring fresh charges of witness tampering against Mr Ruto.

His defence team, led by British lawyer Karim Khan, on August 26 asked the court to allow them to appeal against the ruling.

“Given the evidence’s importance, it will impact on every aspect of the trial going forward, including the evidence to be addressed in any 'no case to answer' motion, the witnesses to be called in any defence case and the evidence which may be relied upon in the Article 74 judgement,” Mr Khan said in the request for leave to appeal.

Mr Katwa Kigen, who is representing former radio presenter Joshua arap Sang, has also filed a similar request stating that the decision “is academic and convoluted, with the result that the ordinary meanings of words and phrases have been twisted to fit Rule 68 criteria as amended.”

Kericho Senator Charles Keter — who said that 60 elected leaders from the Rift Valley would hold the prayer meeting and consultations — said the latest ruling was in bad faith because Mr Ruto had cooperated with the court.

“We have been patient, but taking statements of people who were paid and later withdrew when they were faced with the truth is really disturbing,” he said.

National Assembly Deputy Speaker Joyce Laboso also told the government to campaign harder for the crimes against humanity charges against Mr Ruto and Mr Sang to be dropped.

On Thursday, six MPs from Bomet County repeated the call.

“I wonder why Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed and Attorney-General Githu Muigai are not seriously pushing for the termination of the case against William compared to what they did in the previous cases,” said Bomet East MP Bernard Bett, who spoke on behalf of his colleagues.

Additional reporting by Wanjiru Macharia and Walter Menya