Monday, November 15, 2010

Muslim Rights Forum turns heat on Ruto


BY EVELYNE NJOROGE









 
NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 14 - The Muslim Human Rights Forum is now calling for the investigation of William Ruto over his possible involvement in the saga where two people claim to have been paid by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) to implicate the suspended cabinet minister in the post poll chaos.

The Forum's Co-convener Farouk Machanje said on Sunday that Mr Ruto should be taken to task over his allegations that the Commission has been coaching witnesses who gave their accounts of what they knew about the violence.

“William Ruto has a very strong case to answer on the development of this issue because we find that in a sense he is also trying to influence these two so called witnesses,” he said.

The activists wondered why it is only the embattled minister who is calling for the disbandment of KNCHR and the resignation of its commissioners when the two witnesses; William Kipkemboi Rono and Ken Braziz Wekesa- whom they said should be prosecuted for perjury- have publicly admitted to giving false evidence.

“He had said, upon his suspension from the cabinet that he now has enough time to re-engineer politics in Kenya. He should be warned that if he persists in the trend adopted, it is politics that will re-engineer him to obsolescence,” the co-convener cautioned.

Since his return from The Hague, Mr Ruto has especially singled out Commissioner Hassan Omar Hassan, whom he has accused of paying witnesses to malign him.

But the Muslim Forum came out strongly in defense of Mr Hassan and KNCHR in general saying the commission is a credible institution that has been steadfast in its search for justice for the oppressed in the society.

Despite the recent witness bribery twist, the human rights forum reaffirmed its confidence in KNCHR saying that by providing safe houses for the two questionable witnesses, it was just acting in accordance with the Witness Protection Act.

Mr Machanje said that by taking a swipe at KNCHR, the former Higher Education Minister was playing politics by trying to divert attention from the real issues and he should instead present any evidence he has on witness coaching to the authorities.

And pointing out that Mr Ruto has been adversely mentioned in the Waki and the Commission's reports, they advised the Eldoret legislator to come out clearly and state the extent of his culpability in the civil unrest that led to the deaths of over 1,300 Kenyans.

“He has two options available to him; he should swallow his pride and face families of victims (of the violence) and Kenyans in general and seek forgiveness or prepare his legal team to go through the whole process,” he said.

“Let him save us from more fits of tantrums as we have had enough,” Mr Machange charged.

 

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