Uhuru told International Criminal Court judges from the witness box that Raila bears political responsibility for the 2007 post election violence. Opinion polls have Opinion polls have showed Raila leading in the race for President and cast Uhuru, also the Deputy Prime Minister, as his main rival.
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| Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta |
Uhuru and Eldoret North MP William Ruto — another fierce critic of the Premier — have claimed the crimes against humanity charges are engineered to take them out of the 2012 elections and to give Raila an easy ride to the presidency.
On Thursday Uhuru, who took the bold step to take to the witness box in his own defence, implicated Raila during cross-examination by Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo.
Uhuru charged that Raila was to blame for the chaos, saying his vote-rigging claims incited ODM supporters to violence. The Gatundu South MP added the ODM leader failed to use his influence in the party to quell the chaos.
Uhuru said Raila should have gone to court to register his dissatisfaction with the outcome of the election, adding that claims of lack of faith in the Judiciary shouldn’t have been an excuse to resort to any form of violence.
He alleged that Raila was the first to link him to the Mungiki actions when the PM said he was in State House planning violence with the Mungiki.
"I will not say that he was criminally responsible because I have had no evidence of him supplying guns. But he has political responsibility because of the inflammatory statements," said Uhuru.
He added: "Had he used his political voice to tell his supporters to stop the violence, I don’t think it would have gotten to the level of 600,000 displaced."
Uhuru has steadily built his political career from the time former President Moi nominated him to Parliament and appointed him to the Cabinet.
Most political observers agree that unlike in 2002 when he unsuccessfully contested for presidency, this time he stands a good chance since he commands a sizeable following especially in central Kenya.
Uhuru and Raila — sons of the founding father Jomo Kenyatta and his first vice-president Jaramogi Oginga Odinga — have found themselves reliving the political rivalry that characterised relations between their fathers in the 60s and 70s.
In 2002 Raila led a walkout from Kanu in protest against the nomination of Uhuru as the party’s presidential candidate. Uhuru was defeated by Narc’s Mwai Kibaki, whom Raila had rallied support with his famous ‘Kibaki Tosha’ declaration.
In 2007, Uhuru abandoned the ODM, on whose ticket Raila contested the presidential election, and instead backed President Kibaki’s re-election.
The presidential vote ended disastrously after the incumbent and his main opponent, Raila, both claimed victory, leading to widespread violence, which is the subject of ICC proceedings.
However, as Kenyans watch the Uhuru and Raila rivalry unfold, eyes will still be trained on The Hague as the 11-day long confirmation hearings end this week with former police chief Hussein Ali mounting his defence from tomorrow to dispute an alleged phone call from Head of Public Service Francis Muthaura that is central to the prosecution’s case against him.
The prosecution has not indicated Ali personally participated in meetings to plan retaliatory attacks, but has claimed Muthaura instructed him to ensure the Mungiki carried out attacks in Nakuru and Naivasha without police interference.
Mungiki activitiesAli must persuade judges that police had no "shoot-to-kill" order against protestors and that he did not direct the systematic elimination of Mungiki leaders after the post-election violence to cover up for the outlawed group’s involvement in the violence.
As his defence team leads witnesses at the International Criminal Court, they will seek to demonstrate there was never a January 3, 2008, phone call from Muthaura instructing him not to interfere with Mungiki activities.
Second, to show that throughout his tenure as police chief he had ordered security forces to crush the Mungiki and it is inconceivable that the police would team up with the militia to attack opposition supporters.
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| Prime Minister Raila Odinga |
Third, his lawyers will present evidence to demonstrate police officers battled to restore order during the violence and protected displaced people who camped at police stations.
It is unclear whether the defence team has a personal statement from President Kibaki, whom Ali reported to directly.
Muthaura’s team had a statement from the Head of State. Ali, currently the chief executive officer of the Postal Corporation of Kenya, would be the last of the second batch of suspects to present witnesses in the confirmation of charges hearing under way at the ICC.
The prosecution alleges Ali, Uhuru and Muthaura orchestrated reprisal attacks targeting ODM supporters in Naivasha and Nakuru.
While presenting the charges, ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo claimed Muthaura and Uhuru mobilised police and Mungiki to form an ad hoc organisation to unleash terror.
Moreno-Ocampo claimed Gen Ali, who served as police chief during the 2007-2008 post-election violence, took part in the conspiracy by facilitating "safe passage" to Mungiki killer squads by asking the police not to intercept them.
Overheard MuthauraThe prosecution further alleges Ali was complicit in a scheme to execute Mungiki leaders to cover up for the crimes. Central to this claim by the prosecution is testimony by a Mungiki member who reports to have overheard Muthaura speak to Ali on phone.
This was during a second meeting to plan the attacks alleged to have taken place at the Nairobi Club on January 5, 2008. The first meeting, the prosecution claims, was held at State House, Nairobi, on December 30, 2007 — the day President Kibaki was announced winner of the disputed presidential vote, sparking violence.
Both Uhuru and Muthaura have told the court they never attended any such meetings.
At the second meeting, Moreno-Ocampo alleges Muthaura made a call in Kiswahili in which he reportedly mentioned the name of Ali as the person on the line.
Muthaura has turned over records of telephone conversations to prove he never spoke to Ali on that day.
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