Senior Kenyan figures facing International Criminal Court trial

“This is the problem we face, they will use the stand at The Hague to
campaign and gather support,” said Josphat Makundi, a pharmacist in
Nakuru, a town in Kenya’s Rift Valley two hours west of Nairobi which saw
some of the worst of the 2007-8 violence.

Both Mr Kenyatta – from Kenya’s dominant Kikuyu tribe – and Mr Ruto – a
Kalenjin – enjoy significant support from rural Kenyans living in each of
their political heartlands.

There were concerns that the ICC’s ruling would provoke demonstrations
protesting against the charges.

Elite armed police and undercover officers have been deployed to flashpoint
towns across the country.

But there were no reports of immediate reactions.

“We Kenyans cannot be fighting about this, it is no surprise to most of
us truly in our hearts,” said Steven Gichaba, a civil servant watching
the hearings in a Nakuru pub at lunchtime yesterday.

“All that has happened today is the judges have confirmed what we already
knew, that there is hard evidence, and these men have a case to answer.”
Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the ICC’s chief prosecutor, had originally charged six
men, but the three-judge panel ruled that there was not enough evidence to
confirm charges against Hussein Ali, the former police chief, and Henry
Kosgey, a junior minister.

Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto will be joined on trial, in two separate cases, by
Francis Muthaura, the head of the civil service, and Joshua arap Sang, a
radio talk show host.

None is under arrest and all have said that they would co-operate with the
ICC’s orders. No date was given for the start of the trials, and the four
men have the right to appeal Monday’s ruling.

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