International Criminal Court prosecutor Fatou Bensouda has said she has evidence of bribery of a key witness in the case of Kenya’s deputy prime minister, Uhuru Kenyatta.
In her submissions, Ms Bensouda claims the critical Witness Four, a former leader of the dreaded Mungiki militia group, and who withdrew his testimony after charges confirmation hearings, was paid to do so.
This is the witness who said he was present at meetings in the country’s State House and at the members-only Nairobi Club where Mr Kenyatta and former civil service boss Francis Muthaura allegedly planned the violence that followed the disputed presidential election of 2007.
In a later statement to the ICC, the witness said he lied about his presence in the two meetings.
“Witness Four revealed in an interview in May 2012 that he had been offered and accepted money from individuals holding themselves out as representatives of the accused to withdraw his testimony and provided e-mails and records that confirmed the bribery scheme,” said the prosecutor.
Ms Bensouda was responding to an application by the defences of Mr Kenyatta and Mr Muthaura which are calling for dismissal of their case due of the withdrawal of evidence by the key witness.
Mr Kenyatta, a presidential candidate in Monday’s election, and his running mate, Mr William Ruto, are charged with crimes against humanity.
The other accused is journalist Joshua arap Sang.
The prosecution maintains that despite the withdrawal of the testimony, it had sufficient evidence of Mr Kenyatta’s alleged participation in violence planning meetings at Blue Post Hotel in Thika, central Kenya and Nairobi’s Yaya Centre, a shopping mall.
NMG
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