TIGHT SECURITY: Deputy President Ruto arrives at the International Criminal Court premises for yesterday's proceedings.
DEPUTY President William Ruto was under pressure in the Rift Valley to support Raila Odinga for President in 2007, a witness told the ICC said yesterday.
Witness 356 told the court that many leaders in the Rift Valley told Ruto that he had to support ODM as the entire community had agreed.
He narrated one particular meeting at Ruto's home where politicians Samuel Poghisio, Linah Kilimo and Franklin Bett told the him to stick with the community.
"Ruto was not fully willing to work with Raila Odinga even though he knew in his heart that the people had decided to support ODM. He tried to convince the Kalenjin that Raila was not the best candidate," the witness said.
The witness told the court that the Kalenjin leaders had declared Ruto the king of the region and said that everyone would do as he instructed.
This, he said, was only after Ruto was convinced that he should stick with Raila and ODM during a meeting at the Eldoret Sports Club.
"All the rich people in Kalenjin were supporting Ruto and this became clear at the Eldoret Sports Club meeting where he was declared the only person who could speak for the Kalenjin," the witness said.
He named businessman Jackson Kibor as among the "rich people" who were supporting Ruto and ODM during the 2007 campaigns.
At one point, the witness told the court that he could not remember when the meetings were held even though he had previously said they were held in December 2007.
"I want to clarify that during the break I tried to recall. I remembered that the meeting at Ruto's house was not held in December but I cannot remember in which month it was held," the witness said.
The witness also said that Kipchumba Murkomen, now Senator for Elgeyo Marakwet, would argue with Sang on radio as he was biased towards Ruto.
"One lawyer Kipchumba Murkomen, who used to call during the show and who was not supporting any side, would argue bitterly with Joshua Sang on radio. Mr Sang was openly supporting Ruto and ODM fully," the witness said.
The witness told the court said that Sang was using derogatory words against the Kikuyus in his broadcasts on Kass FM and at times said Kikuyus were thieves.
"He (Sang) was answering another presenter from Citizen called Waweru Mburu who kept criticising Ruto and asking him to clear himself of corruption allegations," the witness said.
The witness said that Sang used coded language because the government had cracked down on hate speech and radio presenters had to be careful of their language.
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