Kenya: Evidence Against Uhuru Out Today

By Felix Olick* [caption id="attachment_15644" align="alignleft" width="285"] Photo: Office of the Presidency of Kenya
President Kenyatta[/caption] Names of leading politicians are likely to feature over the 2007-08 post-election violence as The Hague court today releases the prosecutor’s evidence against President Uhuru Kenyatta. The decision to make public the evidence just a month after charges against Uhuru were dropped has rubbed State House the wrong way. Yesterday, Uhuru’s Director of Digital, New Media and Diaspora Dennis Itumbi accused Bensouda of publishing allegations that Uhuru’s defence did not have a chance to interrogate. “The other problem is that ICC prosecution is now going to try President Uhuru Kenyatta in public. Outside the court and basically holding a trial through the media,” he said on Facebook. Uhuru, Deputy President William Ruto, journalist Joshua Sang, former minister Henry Kosgey, former police commissioner Hussein Ali and former Head of Public Service Francis Muthaura were charged with crimes against humanity. The International Criminal Court judges ruled there was enough evidence to try Uhuru, Ruto and Sang, and not the other three. Last month the prosecution dropped Uhuru’s case for lack of evidence. Details of the alleged State House meeting with members of the outlawed Mungiki sect are likely to be revealed. At the pre-trial stage, prosecutor Fatou Bensouda’s predecessor Luis Moreno-Ocampo convinced the judges that the meeting convened to plan retaliatory attacks against ODM supporters in Naivasha and Nakuru took place. Naivasha was the epicentre of violence against ODM supporters. “In particular, the Chamber is satisfied that there are substantial grounds to believe that on November 26, 2007, a meeting was held at Nairobi State House between Muthaura, Kenyatta, Mungiki representatives, President Mwai Kibaki, and others,” paragraph 310 of the confirmation of charges reads. Uhuru’s lawyers opposed publication of the document. *Source Allafrica/The Star]]>