Eldoret North MP William Ruto/ File
NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 8 – Eldoret North Member of Parliament William Ruto was on Monday morning grilled by detectives at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) headquarters, over his alleged role in planning and financing the post election violence of 2008.
Police sources at the CID headquarters told Capital News that Mr Ruto was driven there at about 9am and left shortly before noon.
Mr Ruto was questioned by detectives assigned the task of conducting parallel investigations over the post election violence, in line with a statement sent by the government to the International Criminal Court (ICC) assuring it of a thorough probe into the matter by state agents.
After the grilling session, Mr Ruto sped off and declined to speak to journalists camping outside the CID headquarters.
Last month, Tinderet Member of Parliament Henry Kosgey was questioned over his alleged role in the violence and detectives have indicated they will be summoning the other four ICC suspects in due course.
They include Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, Head of the Civil Service Francis Muthaura, former Police Commissioner Hussein Ali and Kass FM Presenter Joshua arap Sang, who were named by ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo as masterminds of the election violence.
Mr Ocampo has dismissed as a public relations gimmick, attempts by the government to open up fresh investigations into the crisis more than three years after the crimes were committed.
The ICC is due to hold confirmation of charges hearings beginning September 1 at The Hague when all the suspects will know if war crime charges will be opened against them.
Last week, Mr Ocampo revealed his Documents Containing Charges (DCC) against Mr Ruto, Mr Sang and Mr Kosgey. He will release more evidence against Mr Kenyatta, Mr Muthaura and Major General (Rtd) Ali before their appearance for the confirmation of charges hearings on September 21.
He said the three attended nine preparatory meetings and events to plan on how to expel people from their communities in Rift Valley.
According to the DCC, Mr Ruto and Mr Kosgey were in charge of a network which he said had a sort of military structure that had three commanders or generals who reported to either of them.
They were further accused of providing financial and material support to the direct perpetrators and also gave them instructions to carry out the attacks.
He alleges that Mr Sang used his radio programme to give directions and also gather updates on the attacks by using hate speech and other names to refer to the people the perpetrators should have attacked.
Some 1,500 people were burnt or hacked to death and more than half a million others forcibly displaced during the crisis, which rocked various parts of the country, including Rift Valley, the worst hit by the crisis.
Efforts to establish a local tribunal to deal with perpetrators have hit a dead end after Parliament rejected three Bills seeking to try the perpetrators locally.
Despite that, the government has been keen to frustrate the ICC process after moving to challenge the principle of admissibility.
About The Author
