Thuita tells ICC judges of Kenya chaos intelligence

Foreign Affairs permanent secretary Thuita Mwangi told The Hague judges that the government’s top security advisory organ received intelligence of impending violence just before the December 2007 presidential elections results were announced.

Mr Mwangi, taking the stand as the second witness for Civil Service boss Francis Muthaura at the International Criminal Court (ICC), said the National Security Advisory Committee (NSAC) used the information to make recommendations for deployment of police and other law enforcing agencies in particular areas.

The PS, whose testimony was delayed for 30 minutes to allow judges a decision on the security documents the defence team wanted him to refer to, disclosed that the 2007 elections were highly contested, prompting tension in areas where ODM and PNU were involved.

“Historically, these were highly contested elections which required that law and order was maintained. This (intelligence on possible break-out of violence) information was brought to the committee to prepare and take whatever measures to ensure elections were held peacefully in a free and fair atmosphere,” said Mr Mwangi who was also a member of the NSAC during the post election violence.

The intelligence information, he said, was provided by the National Security Intelligence Service (NSIS), the police and the provincial administration.

Deploy forces

The NSAC, chaired by Mr Muthaura, made recommendations to deploy forces to secure civilians who were likely to affected by the impending violence.

“One of the key recommendations was for the police to deploy more personnel to hot spots. The other key recommendation was to deploy more officers from other security agencies in order to boost the regular police,” he said.

Mr Mwangi was the second witness for Mr Muthaura to take the stand in an attempt to absolve the Civil Service boss of charges of murder, rape, persecution and forced eviction brought against him by ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo.

The hearings of confirmation of charges entered the fifth day on Tuesday. Mr Muthaura is appearing alongside deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Postmaster General Hussein Ali.

Led in his testimony by Ms Shymala Alagendra, Mr Thuita submitted that Mr Muthaura did not have the powers to compel either the police or the military to act in a particular manner during the post election violence.

He also explained that Mr Muthaura did not impose any decisions of NSAC members as alleged by the prosecution.
Security minutes

Mr Mwangi’s testimony was delayed for more than 30 minutes after the judges suspended the hearings to examine documents that the defence wanted the witness to refer to as he testified.

The documents included NSAC minutes of meetings held during the post-election violence in 2008.

Judge Ekaterina Trendafilova said that the chamber wanted to ensure that all documents produced by Mr Muthaura’s lawyer Karim Khan were disclosed. She added that the Chamber only needs the witness to recollect what happened during the time in question.

Mr Khan had earlier accused the prosecution of playing its cards under the table but prosecution lawyer Adesola Adeboyejo said that her team is not obligated to provide the defence with material.