Muthaura: ICC case broke my heart

Former Head of Public Service Francis Muthaura. (Photo:Standard)

By Peter Opiyo

Nairobi, Kenya: Former Head of Public Service Francis Muthaura would not celebrate the withdrawal of criminal charges against him because he feels the justice system at the International Criminal Court was abused and manhandled.

Muthaura, who addressed the media at Nairobi’s Serena Hotel, said though he felt relieved by the developments, he cannot afford to celebrate because the ICC case broke his heart.

“Whilst I am relieved more than I can say, I am not celebrating. The ICC case broke my heart, not only because I was charged, but much more so because I have seen justice abused and manhandled by those whose primary duty it was to respect it and safeguard it at all costs,” said Muthaura in a personal statement.

Flanked by his legal team, the former Permanent Secretary in the Office of the President said false allegations were uttered against him and that he never thought he would be a subject of ICC given that he has always followed the law.

“I never thought I would be a target of the ICC or any court because I have always lived my life under the law. Never did I think that false allegations uttered against me  would be accepted as truth by the ICC,” said Muthaura.

ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda on Monday showed intention to withdraw the charges against Muthaura citing bribery, intimidation, killing of witnesses as well as lack of government cooperation to avail relevant evidence.

But his defense Lawyer Mr Karim Khan dismissed the assertions claiming there was government cooperation and that the case just flopped from within the prosecution.

“Nothing can be further from the truth, those allegations are just but a smoke screen. This case collapsed from within…the story here is not that there was bribery or intimidation of witnesses, the story is there was no case,” said Mr Khan, who was also accompanied by Ken Ogeto, Shyamala Alagendra and Essa Faal.

Muthaura was charged with rape, murder, persecution and forceful transfer of population at the height of post-poll upheavals in 2007/2008. About 1,133 people lost their lives in the violence and over 500,000 were uprooted from their homes.