William Ruto accuses Nasa of plotting to revive ICC cases
President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto address a rally at Kaptumo centre in Nandi County on June 12, 2017. PHOTO | PSCU
What you need to know:
The DP repeated the same accusation in almost all the rallies they addressed in the county.
Mr Steynberg was reported saying he hoped another government after the Jubilee administration would be more cooperative.
ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda accused President Kenyatta’s administration of frustrating her search for evidence before the cases collapsed.
President Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto took their campaigns to Nandi County where they accused the opposition of planning to revive ICC cases dropped due to lack of adequate evidence.
The two asked the residents to support them so they could rule the country for another five years as the ICC debate appeared to be creeping back less than two months to the General Election.
DP Ruto was the first to address the recent reports quoting ICC lawyer Anton Steynberg as saying the prosecution would consider revisiting the cases that faced President Kenyatta and his deputy ahead of the last polls.
He told off the Opposition over the alleged plot, saying Kenyans would not allow that they be taken back to the Hague-based court.
NASA PLOT
“We are aware of a plan by our competitors in the Nasa alliance to have the cases we had at ICC resurrected in the event that they win the election but their plans will not work,” said Mr Ruto in Nandi Hills town where the Jubilee team addressed supporters after the President laid a foundation stone for the construction of Koitalel Samoei University College.
The DP repeated the same accusation in almost all the rallies they addressed in the county.
The two leaders were among six suspects singled out by the ICC to face crimes against humanity charges after the 2007/08 post-election violence.
All of them were, however, set free after the prosecution failed to present adequate evidence to sustain the cases.
MORE COOPERATIVE
At the weekend, Mr Steynberg was reported saying he hoped another government after the Jubilee administration would be more cooperative.
“The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards justice. Who knows, the next regime may be much more cooperative, or the one after the next,” he said.
ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda accused President Kenyatta’s administration of frustrating her search for evidence before the cases collapsed.
The President, however, kept off the subject, focusing instead on development projects he said had been started by his administration and the need to be re-elected to complete them and start others.
HONOUR FREEDOM FIGHTER
Speaking at Koitalel Samoei Secondary School, the President said the government was happy to honour the freedom fighter with a higher institution of learning where he was reportedly killed more than a century ago.
“We won’t forget those who were here before us. They rejected colonialists who wanted to grab our land and take our rights as Africans. Now we will build a university to honour them, including Koitalel,” said the President.
The ceremony was part of the President’s campaign in Nandi County where he addressed several rallies on Monday.
HIGHER EDUCATION
He said the university would enable many students to get access to higher education and play a role in improving the country’s economy.
He said the university would be ready to admit students in two years.
“This is our country, no one will develop apart from us. I am happy for the Nandi people for giving us the piece of land to build this university. In two years, we will come back to open it and students to get admitted but first you have to vote for us in August so we are able to continue with its construction,” said the President.
