President Uhuru Kenyatta's lawyer at the ICC is reportedly seeking information about 60 people some of whom may be witnesses in his trial scheduled to start in November.
Yesterday, it emerged that the information being sought by Steven Kay includes SMS data, voice calls and MPESA and Airtel Money transfer of the 60 people from as far back as 2008. The individuals include some witnesses who ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda has lined up to testify.
The president's lawyer could be seeking to get the phone records that would indicate the locations of the witnesses within a 200 meter radius of the nearest Base Transmission Stations (BTS); the records of the person being called, the duration, time of call and Mpesa and Airtel Money transfer records.
The records will also show the common numbers that the witnesses were communicating with during the time. This will help corroborate or negate the claims some of the witnesses have made in regard to the offense that President Uhuru is facing.
If the two mobile phone companies provide the information that Kay is requesting, the telephone records, Mpesa/Airtel money transactions and texts of the individuals he is targeting will be made available.
"Normally mobile service providers can keep records for as long as three months but they do have records beyond that depending on the importance of the individual. But if someone has a lot of calls, the records are sometimes only held for two months," the expert who sought anonymity said.
However, the mobile service providers have back up systems outside the country which stores most of the data that they can fall back on in case their systems are compromised.
President Uhuru's team has allegedly brought on board a British investigator who is booked at a hotel along Thika road and whose task is to help strengthen Uhuru's defense by discrediting some of the witnesses.
Uhuru on Tuesday night issued a statement in which he defended his action of having his case against the two mobile phone companies heard in confidence.
Dismissing civil society's criticism and intention to go to court to challenge the 'in-camera' proceedings, Uhuru said he had a right to demand confidentiality as he worked on clearing his name at the ICC.
He said the 'secret' hearings were part of his defense preparations for the ICC trial which opens on November 12.
Accusing the civil society leaders of acting in bad faith, Uhuru said they were ignoring the rule of natural justice where one is presumed innocent until proved guilty.
The executive director of the International Centre for Policy and Conflict Ndung'u Wainaina had indicated he might go to court to challenge the 'secret' proceedings and to protect public interest and the victims' rights to access to information.
Uhuru and his co-defendant at the ICC, Deputy President William Ruto have previously accused the civil society of "cooking" evidence and "coaching" witnesses who will testify during their trials.
Reports indicate that ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda is relying on over 100 witnesses some of whom have been relocated several times to different countries to reduce the risk of having them intimidated or compromised.
This is after she alleged that over 13 witnesses had withdrawn from the case due to intimidation and fearing for their lives.
The confidential petition filed by Kay against the two mobile service providers will either confirm or refute the ICC's allegations that people close to Uhuru have threatened witnesses.
ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda is relying on communication data to establish among other things the links between Uhuru and the outlawed Mungiki sect who he is accused of funding to commit crimes during the post-election violence.
Bensouda will be calling Lars Bromley, an American satellite imagery and communication expert to testify on his findings on analysis of the technological evidence in the case.
The case to get data from Safaricom and Airtel mobile phone companies was prompted by Bensouda's disclosure of the evidence she intends to adduce in the case against Uhuru.
During the confirmation of charges hearings, the prosecution referred to telephone communication made between Uhuru and his then co-accomplices Hussein Ali and Francis Muthaura.
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