Do not celebrate yet, Uhuru tells rivals

By AMRAN ATHMAN
SENIOR REPORTER
Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta has told his enemies not to celebrate his inclusion in the list of suspects of the post-election violence.
Pleading his innocence over the events that followed the 2007/08 post-election violence, Uhuru said he did not fear facing the International Criminal Court.
He said some MPs from Central Province and the Rift Valley will support him for president, with Eldoret North MP William Ruto as his running mate in 2012.
Mr Uhuru said those behind the 2007 post-election violence will soon be known. "All I was seeking in 2007 was peace and unity," Uhuru said at a ceremony to mark 50 years since the death of Senior Chief Koinange wa Mbiyu in Kiambaa, Kiambu County.
MPs John Mututho (Naivasha), Lewis Nguyai (Kikuyu), Ferdinand Waititu (Embakasi) said their people would vote for Uhuru as president, and Ruto as his deputy, even if the two are in The Hague.
Mututho said they would pay for Uhuru and Ruto’s lawyers and also for the 2012 campaign.
"Even Bashir (Sudanese President) was elected when he was already indicted by the ICC," Mututho said. Mr Nguyai said Mt Kenya region should be united. "Many think that we are worried. But Uhuru’s father, Kenyatta, was jailed in Kapenguria before he became President. Kenyatta (Uhuru) will come from The Hague to be President," the Kikuyu MP said.
"We will elect him even if he is at The Hague," Waititu said.
Ocampo six
Ndaragua MP Jeremiah Kioni and former Kiambaa MP Njenga Karume said Uhuru was innocent.
On Wednesday, the International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo released the six names of the 2007 post-election violence suspects.
Those named were Mr Uhuru, Eldoret North MP William Ruto and Head of Civil Service Francis Muthaura. Others are Industrialisation Minister Haenry Kosgey, former police commissioner Hussein Ali and Kass FM presenter Joshua Sang.