I cringe when I think about all those youngsters who witnessed much worse. Their mothers being raped and then killed. You lie if you insist that they will quickly forget when they grow up. You lie when you claim that it all depends on how they are brought up and that if they find upbringing full of love, they will live in better times. You lie because I know how it feels.
This is one of the reasons why I have been listening to the ongoing confirmation hearings at the Hague with a lot of bitterness in my heart. And it is the reason why I have resisted making any commentary about them because my posts will almost certainly be biased. More so because of some of the information I have that is not in the public domain.
The situation is made worse by the line of defense that is being taken by the accused persons. This very serious matter is being reduced to an extension of the political battles currently going on ahead of 2012. That makes me want to throw up because it is happening at a time when some Kalenjin individuals are occupying land that does not belong to them. The land belongs to people whom some of them murdered and raped. The real owners of the land who survived are wandering around with no fixed abode in their own country. And yet no court in the land has prosecuted a single person in connection to this gross injustice. Naturally this is not the kind of thing to joke about or make light of. Or turn into some political game plan for 2012.
And that is the reason why this is a post to urge my readers to allow me to remain silent on what is unfolding at the ICC. I assure you all that there will be plenty of drama and shocking revelations so much so that my input in the matter will not be missed.
But before I pen off I would like to make three observations.
Firstly about the bombshell this past week where the prosecution has alleged that William Ruto recruited retired army commanders Augustine Cheruiyot and John Koech and former GSU boss Samson Cheramboss to plan and help execute attacks in the 2008 troubles.
This is consistent with previous so-called tribal clashes in the area. Kenyans with longer memories will understand that it was one retired President Daniel arap Moi who invented tribal clashes. This is the man who laid the ground for what happened in 2008 because tensions have always been high in the Rift Valley since the advent of multi-party democracy in 1991. Moi always used personalities from the military that he could trust to execute the attacks. I shall not mention names but there was a very famous army officer who was killed in the Rift Valley in the 1990s and it was simply a revenge attack by relatives of those he had organized to kill on behalf of Moi.
Secondly the line being taken by the defense lawyers to weaken the prosecution case by claiming that others are guiltier than the accused persons is bound to fail for one simple reason. Those at the Hague are the ones deemed most responsible and it is not the mandate of the ICC to round up all the people responsible.
Lastly William Ruto cell phone calls during the troubles of 2008 were intercepted by local spooks and the NSIS has conclusive evidence of his involvement. I doubt whether this material will ever be made available to the prosecutors at the Hague but am informed that some related evidence may come through in the course of the trial (assuming that the hearings proceed to a full trial).
Really interesting times ahead folks.
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